Return of the Samsara
by Hamp24
Summary: Hagoromo grew tired of the repetitive cycle. Indra tried to take over the world, Ashura stopped him. Their respective reincarnations continued that same cycle. Having enough, Hagoromo decided to break it by giving all of his power to the next Ashura Reincarnation. How does the Narutoverse change with such an action? Let's find out. (Starts at Chunin Exam Arc and continues onward)
1. Prologue

**So, third new story within a week. How fun. Last one though (For now at least) What's this one about? According to that story Avi, its a Rinnegan Naruto fic. BWAHAHAHA! The Rinnegan! EVERYONE BOW BEFORE HIS MAJESTY YOU PEASANTS-Nah. While any Doujutsu is nigh impossible to write not OP when given to a main character who comes with plot armor. Imma make it as cool as I can because...well, because I'm the author dammit. I just want to see what it'd be like to write from the perspective of an essiential demi-god. Should be fun. And if it sucks, which it will, who cares? I most certainly don't. I never have. Hope you enjoy regardless.**

 **A/N: Word to Karldin and Freowin. Their respective stories, _Birth of the Forest_ and _Nightfall_ , inspired this fic.**

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 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. To that I say, "Surprise" and add jazz hands to accentuate such a statement.

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 **Chapter 1: Prologue**

 _"It just never stops. Well over a millennia and it just won't end. Why isn't Peace attainable? Why must violence and warfare be the status quo?"_

Thoughts of a man that floated several feet above the ground in a lotus position. The man was tall and skinny and had deep wrinkles on his face showing his elderly age. He had spiky, shoulder length, pale red hair with a chin-length braid hanging in front of his left ear. He had a long goatee that tapered all the way down to his waist and horn-like protrusions on his forehead. His eyes were the daunting Rinnegan, a purple eye with a tiny pupil surrounded by concentric circles, and in the middle of his forehead was another Rinnegan, though red in color.

On his right palm was a light colored circle and on his left palm was a dark colored crescent moon. He wore a white, full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama around a high collar, beneath which he wore a necklace which was also made up of six black magatama. On the back of his kimono was a larger Rinnegan marking with a pattern of nine magatama arranged in three rows of three beneath it.

History books would call this man many names from The Sage of Six Paths to the God of Shinobi. Otsutsuki Hagoromo was his birth name and he was the founder of Shinobi. A man who was born first with chakra in his body. His legend spread through the world as merely a myth due to its absurdity and grandiose feats.

 **"Fighting off a beast of the Jubi's (Ten-tails) stature before turning it into the moon does seem far fetched old man."**

A chuckle escaped Hagoromo's lips before he turned his attention to the deep voice talking to him. The voice emanated from a fox. A gargantuan fox with nine tails swishing behind it and an ominous pair of red eyes. Though the fox's appearance was downright scary, the Sage had no qualms with being in its presence.

"Hearing it myself would make me not believe it also Kurama had I not been there." said Hagoromo looking at the fox. It was just smiling at him which garnered a smile from him also. "What is with that look?"

 **"You. You're here. I knew you were too great to lose to something like old age."**

"But I did die to old age."

 **"Your body did. Your spirit is strong and I can feel your chakra. You're not fooling me."** spoke Kurama getting a smile from Hagoromo. The fox's tails were wagging in excitement that reached all the way to his face. **"So...when are you going to spring me there pops? You've been sitting there going through a monologue for several minutes."**

"Oh I can't spring you my boy. You're stuck here because I'm only an apparition." informed the Sage getting Kurama to look shocked at that. "I wish. But you're stuck here for the foreseeable future."

And spirit crushed. Kurama hoped upon seeing his creator suddenly appear within the confines of his seal that all was great. He was here, seal would unlock, and Kurama would be free of being inside one of these lesser beings called humans. Hagoromo was a human too but really he was more alien than what these flesh bags were so he didn't count. Until he said he couldn't spring him.

 **"No. No. No! What?! You're..You're...you! You can do anything!"** shouted Kurama in disbelief getting a somber look from Hagoromo. He could see the visible disappointment. **"What other reason could you be here for then? To talk about what's been happening?! Huh? Well I've been stuck inside a human for the better part of a century old man. Shit's not fun."**

"I know. I really wish I could free you. But even if I could-" said Hagoromo before looking at the baby sleeping casually on the other side of the cage that resembled Kurama's seal. "I'd kill that boy in the process."

 **"So? His life means more to you than mine?"**

"How I feel is irrelevant because his life still means something to someone. Don't be like that."

 **"How else am I supposed to be? All I wanted to be was fucking alone and then scum fuck Uchiha came and used that dumb pink eye. Then it was ginger** **lady wife of Flower boy."** rambled Kurama summarizing his recent years. **"Then she got a babier ginger lady to contain me. Which backfired because another scum fuck Uchiha, possibly the original one, came and mind fucked me again. Before sunflower head guy locked me away, half into himself/Death God and half into a chibi clone version of him."** continued Kurama before looking at the Sage. **"Let's recap. Mindfuck. Prison. New prison. Mindfuck again. Half my body ripped out and locked away into the Shinigami's tummy. Before prison once again. Said prison happening to be the most helpless thing on the Earth. A fucking baby. So how am I supposed to be like old man?!"**

Hagoromo merely watched Kurama huff at his emotive statement and merely allowed the weight of his words to fully digest. Maybe Kurama had a point. That was really a fucked up last hundred years. Entirely not how he meant for the beasts to live. But Human Nature was a funny thing was it not.

"Alright. I see your point. Maybe there is something I can do for you though." spoke Hagoromo once again. Kurama opened his mouth but the sage stopped him. "Not kill this child by freeing you. Seriously, I'm not."

 **"Fine."** said Kurama not pleased his idea wasn't an option. **"Take over his body and become the Jinchuriki. Then maybe I'll be fine with this stupid cage."**

"I'm not doing that either kiddo. Why would I want to redo life all over again. That-" said Hagoromo lazily pointing to the baby. "-was terrible. I'm not doing that again. Besides if another 'me' wound up in the world people would-" the Sage stopped himself before thinking of the possibilities of another him. Kurama watched his creator nod slowly to himself before looking at Naruto. "Hmm, what was that legend of the Rinnegan? Those who possess it would bring about world peace or world destruction?"

 **"Yeah. But that's just a legend..."** Kurama trailed off his speech when he realized where the Sage was going with this. **"** **No! Old man..."**

"Why not?"

 **"What if the child grows up and abuses your power like your descendants did? Your eyes are even stronger than the one that's fucked me over all these years."**

"You have a point. The boy could do that." said Hagoromo walking over to the motionless child. "But that's what you're here for. To make sure it doesn't happen." continued Hagoromo standing over the baby boy. "Plus, he's the reincarnation of Ashura. I can feel it. I wonder what it'd have been like if Ashura inherited the full breadth of my powers? Including my eyes."

 **"No, just fucking no old man. I decline. I hate humanity. I'll** **have him destroy the world first chance I get."**

"...You're right, it is a bad idea." said Hagoromo shaking his head. "That could end badly."

 **"Exactly you old fart..."**

"...So be it. Have him destroy the world then." said Hagoromo getting Kurama to stare at him with wide eyes.

 **"Jiji..."** warned Kurama looking at his creator. **"Don't try to pull that reverse psychology crap. I'll have him destroy the world."**

"Oh I believe you."

 **"This isn't a game-"**

"Kurama-kun, I respect your fear and understand your concern. But every reincarnation of Ashura has done wondrous things for the world." spoke the Sage with a smile placing a palm to the baby's forehead. "I aim to jumpstart such things. Watch over this boy for me like I know you will. He holds my very essence don't you know."

Kurama said nothing before feeling the chakra transfer and watching a white light expand to cover the boy's entire mind.

 _(Real World)_

A crib sat neatly in the corner of the room that housed the same baby Hagoromo and Kurama were looking at. The baby was sleeping soundly even as the door to his room was kicked in. An old man well into his fifties stood in the room with his eyes surveying it like the battle hardened shinobi he was.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was the man's name and he continued looking around the room before realizing nothing was amiss. Everything was as he left it considering the boy still slept soundly. But Hiruzen knew what he felt. And if the only thing in the room was the baby, it meant it had to come from him.

"Is the Kyubi breaking the seal?" questioned Hiruzen to himself walking over to the baby boy. The golden hair and whisker scarred cheeks of the baby brought a smile to his face. "You wouldn't let the Kyubi loose would you Naruto-kun?"

Maybe he was going senile. He could have sworn he felt a massive chakra spike. And maybe he did. But seeing how everything looked normal, the old shinobi would just pass it off as senility. What else could he do?

 _(13 Years Later - Naruto Age 13)_

"You're not hurt are you...scaredy-cat."

Two kunai stabbed deeply into a snake many times bigger than him, Uzumaki Naruto stood in his orange jumpsuit a few feet from his teammate, Uchiha Sasuke. And Sasuke remembered those exact same words coming from his mouth to Naruto back during their first real mission. A mission that went awry and had them locked against two shinobi set out to kill them.

Throughout their battle, Sasuke was needed to save Naruto. Naruto was unprepared for the true dangers of a ninja and Sasuke made sure to let him know about it. Naruto just happened to return that gesture in magnanimous fashion.

"Oh, you've grown up so interesting." spoke their current enemy, a kunoichi from Kusagakure. Her tongue elongated before snatching Naruto up in an uncompromisingly strong vice grip. The tongue was positioned in a way that showed the boy's belly which had an intricate design on it. "Hmm, and there goes the seal."

The woman's five fingers glowed purple with chakra before she slammed them directly atop the seal. Naruto's eyes bugged out at the powerful strike as a noiseless shout left him. Five markings showed around the seal before Naruto simply passed out. The woman chuckled before launching Naruto away without a care.

"Naruto!" shouted Naruto's other teammate, Haruno Sakura. She managed to launch a kunai that pinned him to a tree. That fall was over a hundred feet. He could have been hurt even worst. "Sasuke-kun, Naruto might be a klutz and not always there mentally. But at least he's no coward..."

Those words from Sakura got the Uchiha to finally snap himself out of it. She was right. And more importantly, Naruto was right. He needed to stop being a punk.

Sadly, they would find out later that they were facing Orochimaru of the three Sannin. The Sannin being a trio of three of Konoha's most legendary shinobi. They were no match at all. But while all this happened, a certain Bijuu was internally panicking within his Jinchuriki.

 _(Naruto's Mindscape)_

Kurama was a wreck. He simply sat shaking his head over and over at the current predicament.

 **"That seal cut me off from the boy..."**

Normally, this would be a problem. Naruto himself wasn't all that impressive a shinobi. Any real danger, Naruto relied heavily on Kurama's power to stay alive and survive the dire circumstances he found himself in. Kurama stopped all those certain death scenarios for him.

But that wasn't the only thing Kurama stopped. Located just outside his cage sat a black and white chakra settled in a yin-yang pattern. Hagoromo's chakra given to him all those years ago. Kurama had kept that powerful chakra away from Naruto since that moment thirteen years ago. He didn't want Naruto to ever garner access to it. However, the seal Orochimaru placed on Naruto cut him off from his Jinchuriki and that chakra was finally free to flow. And flow it did.

 **"Seems you finally got your wish Jiji..."** said Kurama shaking his head as the chakra slowly filtered into Naruto and melded with the boy's own. **"If he destroys the world you so wished to protect, it is on you."**

Kurama simply shook his head as the chakra began to work its way into Naruto's chakra pathway. He could already feel Naruto's body beginning to adapt to the new chakra flowing through him. Kurama didn't care to keep watching and just shut his eyes to sleep. He'd deal with this when the time came.

 _(12 hours later)_

Pain, definitively, is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. Naruto had felt such a pain from the battles he found himself in or even training. Most of those pains were physical and Naruto always shrugged those off in a matter of minutes or after a night's rest.

Mental pain, such as the migraine he had, was something Naruto was not used to. He hadn't remembered ever having a headache. Let alone any kind of ailment. Which made the pounding in his head and the pulsating pain behind his eyes extremely painful.

Throughout the pain, Naruto's mind was assaulted by images of another life. They were fleeting but Naruto managed to catch them all. Some of him looking at a goddess like woman and calling her mother. Watching that woman merge with a tree that then turned into a beast. Fighting alongside his..brother and sealing the woman into the moon and the beast itself into himself. Sharing his chakra with the world and searching for peace and stability. Finding love. Having children. Approaching death. Separating the beast's chakra into 9 beings.

An entire lifetime showed itself to Naruto in the span of several seconds before it just ended. When it ended, so did the pain in his head and the pain behind his eyes. Now over, Naruto found his other senses and took in his surroundings with his eyes still closed. Hearing being the first as he heard voices that didn't belong to his Genin team.

"Someone should really wake him up...this is embarrassing." spoke a boy with a bored look on his face and black hair that stuck up in a ponytail.

 _"Shikamaru"_ thought Naruto recognizing the voice before hearing another.

"We could kick him. Can I kick him first?" asked a portly boy with reddish brown hair and spirals on his cheeks.

 _"Heh, Chouji."_

"Stop it you idiots. Maybe he has their scroll. We could take it while he is out." said the girl of the trio with platinum blonde hair and sea foam blue eyes.

 _"Ino, how opportunistic..."_ thought Naruto feeling the person kneel next to him before reaching a hand out. "Stealing our scroll? You could have asked first Ino."

"Huh? Oh! Naruto- _kun..._ hi! When did you wake up?" questioned Ino nervously. Her hand was held in Naruto's grip as she sighed. Cranking her seduction up to 11, Ino prepared to weasel her way out of this until Naruto opened his eyes. "Your...your eyes..."

Naruto's eyes had always been pretty. A shade of blue that matched the bluest of ocean water. You could take a dip in them it felt like. They were very emotive and you could tell everything Naruto was thinking or feeling if you looked at them. It was about the only thing attractive about Naruto as far as Ino was concerned.

Now though, his eyes were the exact opposite. Cold and emotionless. Purple eyes with a tiny pupil surrounded by concentric circles. They were staring at Ino and she could feel the unbridled power within them. It was like they were looking at her very soul and she was finding it hard to breathe. Ino also found herself enraptured by the eyes because she wanted to look away but noticed she couldn't at the same time. It was just something about them that-

"What about Naruto's eyes?"

Ino blinked hearing that question from her teammate. Upon blinking, Ino saw Naruto's eyes were their regular blue. There was a dopey look on his face as Ino shook her head wondering what happened. Was she hallucinating?

Her teammates both looked away to assess the current situation as Ino looked back at Naruto. Though there wasn't a dopey look to his face anymore. It was different. His blue eyes were the exact same but right now they held something different. The infinite brightness was there but there was something else that Ino just couldn't describe. And having seen what Sasuke just did, Ino couldn't help but wonder.

 _"What happened to you all in here..."_

 _(Two days later)_

Ino was livid. 48 hours had passed and she'd found little of nothing about Naruto. The fact she'd been spending 48 hours trying to find out something about the dead last in her class irked her to no end.

 _"Those eyes...and the way he looked..."_ thought Ino remembering the look. He hadn't shown either again since that moment. The same dopey Naruto she'd always known. _"I know what I saw. Is he trying to hide it?"_

And there she went again thinking about him. She was supposed to be spending her time thinking of how to get Sasuke to marry her. None of her focus should be on the dead last of her class. But the gossip in her, her clan's nature in being adept at information gathering, kept her hooked on Naruto. And it would until she figured out what it was all about.

Sasuke's freaky power had apparently been given to him by Orochimaru. The same could be said for Naruto all things considered. But Naruto's wasn't as evil feeling or tainted as Sasuke. It felt like she was staring into the eyes of Kami. Like she was-

"Kick his ass Naruto! Shannaro!"

 _"Kami, Forehead is so loud."_ thought Ino looking at her rival/best friend cheer for her teammate. The same teammate she herself was thinking so hard about was currently in a fight. _"Maybe this fight with Kiba will shed some light. Even if he'll lose."_

Naruto stood in the arena floor with a far off look on his face. He didn't even acknowledge Sakura's cheer for him from the balcony overlooking the arena floor designated for the preliminary fights. His mind was elsewhere shifting through the memories he now had.

 _"Hagoromo..or Naruto..."_ thought Naruto having a crisis at the moment. Memories were what made you you. Having another man's memories gave Naruto some pause. _"Am I Hagoromo...am I Naruto? Who I am?"_

This was what was plaguing Naruto during the past 48 hours since awakening. He hadn't told anyone about the eyes he held. The Rinnegan as his new memories told him. Eyes that were a step up from the Sharingan his teammate and sensei had. He would have told someone about them but he himself didn't fully comprehend yet. It wouldn't-

"Oi! Pay attention while I kick your ass Naruto!"

 _"Oh yeah, I'm in a fight..."_ thought Naruto dodging Kiba and his dog partner, Akamaru. The two had come at him in a flurry of claws that wouldn't do well to get hit by. _"I don't have time for this..."_

"You won't escape me this time. Gatsuga (Fang over Fang)" said Kiba launching at Naruto once more in a tornado.

Naruto closed his eyes before his Rinnegan came to life. He could feel the chakra within him and marveled at its potency. Picking an ability he could remember Hagoromo using, Naruto felt his body augment substantially. Ducking the tornado, Naruto rose immediately as Kiba passed halfway over him with a punch that hit Kiba flush.

 _"Shurado (Asura Path)"_

Kiba's spin stopped cold as he hunched over Naruto's fist. Kiba felt like he got hit by metal before he simply blacked out at the intense shock of pain. Naruto dropped the out of it Inuzuka and he didn't get back up. Akamaru whimpered by his out cold owner as Naruto turned his Rinnegan off and opened his eyes to look at his right hand. Scratches were all along it as Kiba managed to catch him still.

 _"I'm not as good as Hagoromo was...this body needs work."_ thought Naruto.

"Shousa, Uzumaki Naruto." spoke the proctor of the prelims before he turned to Naruto. "Hell of a counter kid. Didn't know you could do that."

"Heh, guess I got lucky is all. Thanks." said Naruto goofily before heading back up the steps. Naruto stepped back on to the balcony before seeing another one of his classmates standing before him. "Hinata-hime?"

 _"Hime?!"_ thought Hinata looking wide eyed at Naruto while a blush immediately rose to her cheeks.

 _"Hmm, Hagoromo's little brother, Hamura, calls her hime because she holds his power. Doesn't mean I should have...mah, oh well."_ thought Naruto seeing the container held in her hands. "Is this for me?"

"...Hai Naruto-kun...nice...nice fight." spoke Hinata with furiously red cheeks. Naruto smiled at her before accepting the gift with a hug and thank you. _"Naruto-kun is hugging me..."_

Hinata held up for the most part, throughout the entire hug, as she felt the warmth from her crush's hug. Naruto let go of her and walked off as Hinata finally let herself pass out from the close proximity with the apple of her eye. Her sensei caught her as she smiled at the girl.

 _"Way to go Hinata. That was good."_ thought Kurenai, Hinata's sensei, before she looked at Naruto amble his way to his team. _"I thought he was a dunce? He beat Kiba with one move. A Taijutsu strike at that and that's Kiba's best art..."_

Kurenai couldn't fathom Naruto growing so much in the months since graduating the Academy. But he just beat arguably her best student with basically minimal effort and minimal damage. How intriguing. Maybe this was what her female student saw that no one else did?

Naruto arrived back to his team and looked at all of them. Sasuke was giving him a smirk. Sakura was fist pumping his success. And Kakashi was giving him an eye smile. Those three reactions got Naruto to smile to see them happy with his win.

"See you in the finals. Don't lose until you face me." said Sasuke.

"Hell yeah Naruto! You beat him in one move. It was like Whoosh and then Wham Pow!" said Sakura continuing her fist pump.

"Congratulations Naruto. Very impressive." said Kakashi looking at the blonde with a smile. While cordial outside, Kakashi was curious internally. _"That counter should be impossible for someone like Naruto. But it wasn't. When did he learn that? And that chakra I felt..."_

Kakashi would be left stuck wondering about his student as well. Something had happened to Naruto. That much he knew. He would find out later. For now though, he'd let his student bask in his success of passing. All his questions could be answered at a later time. For now, he was the sensei of two Genin that reaches the final stages of the Chunin Exam.

 _"Oh my cute little Genin. They grow up so fast don't they."_ thought Kakashi before giving Naruto and Sasuke patronizing pats on the head. Pats the latter didn't too much like and the former didn't pay much attention too. _"Just so..fast."_

While Kakashi was messing with Sasuke and Naruto, sharp eyes were looking at Naruto. Sarutobi Hiruzen looked even older as he donned red robes and a red hat to watch the preliminary fights. The last one catching his eye.

 _"I remember that chakra. It was the same one I felt over 13 years ago."_ thought Hiruzen seeing the far off look on Naruto's face as Kakashi ruffled his hair. _"My boy..what happened to you in that forest?"_

For now, Hiruzen would continue to watch the prelims. But he'd definitely be finding out what's happened to Naruto. Something changed within Konoha's Jinchuriki. What change? Hiruzen aimed to find out as soon as possibles.

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 **YOSH! And scene. Naruto has the Rinnegan. And Hagoromo's memories. That'll be fun to shift through in the coming days. Seriously, if you don't wanna watch a beast ass Naruto I recommend to not read this story. Because yeah, Rinnegan Naruto is a beast ass Naruto. Enter God Mode Son. There's no question that's what about to happen. This is purely for my entertainment. If it entertains you too then swell but if not, I still enjoy it.**

 **Once again, shoutout to Freowin and Karldin. Their stories are located in my favorites and made me create this. Mainly because they haven't updated theirs. But they are still beauties despite that. Until the next one.**

 **-Hamp**


	2. Finding One's Self

**Chirp Chirp. Chapter Two. Enjoy.**

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 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Fun fact, a flock of crows is known as a murder. Who knew? Snapple knew. It was on my lid. And Snapple Apple is addicting as f*ck. The Mango one is a close second. Anyone else miss the glass bottles? The plastic ones just don't taste the same. Or is that just me?

This was not a paid advertisement. I wish it was though. I'm going broke overseas

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 **Chapter 2: Finding One's Self**

Staring aimlessly, Naruto was walking aimlessly too. It'd been a little over a week since he passed the Chunin Exam preliminary fights against Kiba. And in three weeks time, he'd be facing off against a part of his brother's lineage, Hyuga Neji.

 _"There it is again.."_ thought Naruto walking with his hands in his pockets. Hagoromo seemed to dominate his thinking. He referred to Hinata as Hime from his brother, Hamura, and knew anyone of the Hyuga clan came from said brother's direct line. _"Naruto has only lived 13 years though. It would make sense that Hagoromo's lifetime would harbor more space within my mind."_

There were only thirteen years of Naruto's memories. Most of those were suppressed by his brain due to their sadness. Naruto had lived a very neglected life in Konoha because of his status as Konoha's Jinchuriki. Likely not because of the Bijuu within him but more because of his being a constant reminder of the tragedy that occurred on his birth. The Hagoromo part of him could understand the villagers countenance toward him thinking from that perspective.

In comparison, there was at least a century of Hagoromo's memories within his mind. The majority of those memories weren't forgettable and some were very amazing and near unbelievable things. 100+ years trumped 13 forgettable ones any day. But, he'd come to the realization recently that he was both Hagoromo and Naruto. And neither at the same time.

 _"Hagoromo placed his power within Naruto. Somehow, his memories came with it. Maybe Ningendo (Human Path) has something to do with that? But I am Naruto. His body. And this is his life. Just not the Naruto everyone else knew."_ thought Naruto reaching the outskirts of Konoha in his thoughts. Looking up, he could see the moon in the distance since it was barely dawn. _"I'll have to still check on Hagoromo's-my...family up there. Wonder how they all are?"_

Stepping pass the forest line, Naruto found the man he was looking for. A rather tall man with long, spiky white hair. This was Jiraiya of the Sannin. A very powerful shinobi who found Naruto one day and offered to teach him some about the shinobi arts for his month of training prior to the Chunin Exam Finals. Hagoromo didn't care for it one bit because he had plenty of techniques and abilities to teach himself. Well, the new Naruto. But 'Naruto' was all for it and accepted it despite what 'Hagoromo' wanted.

This was a good thing in hindsight. Hagoromo would need a reason for Naruto to skyrocket ability wise. He now had access to a doujutsu that granted him an abundance of abilities along with the man's chakra flowing within him. Teachings from Jiraiya were the best option to hide those things for the time being because the man was magnanimous enough to claim all of his leaps in power with ease to others.

It was also good Jiraiya found him because Hagoromo had been wondering why Naruto's chakra control was so terrible. Even with his massive chakra, his control felt like a toddler if he was to be honest. That was when Jiraiya found the seal Orochimaru placed over the Kyubi's seal. Hagoromo smacked his forehead when Jiraiya told him that was the reason because he hadn't even considered removing it upon awakening. More concerned with figuring out all the thoughts in his head and who he was.

With that seal removed, Hagoromo began to shape Naruto's body to better handle the power his body now had access to. If he even got a tenth of what he could do, there wouldn't be many, if any, that could hold a candle to him in those Chunin exams. Perhaps the world. Plus, Jiraiya even gave him something very valuable. A summoning contract with the toads he himself remembered having. The Sannin didn't have to chuck him down a ravine to see if he could summon one though.

"I don't like being on the other side of this." said Naruto speaking from Hagoromo's memories. Hagoromo used to do crazy things like this too when he was teaching his sons. Naruto shook his head before biting his thumb and shifting through the required hand seals. "Kuchiyose (Summoning)"

A plume of smoke covered Naruto before he found himself safe atop the head of a massive toad. An irate toad that held himself up from falling by placing all four limbs, two on each side, to either side of the ravine. Naruto saw the red toad and nodded his approval at the power he could feel from the Summoning.

 **"Jiraiya! What have I told you about Summoning me in such places?"** questioned the mighty toad which he did not receive an answer to. Jumping clean out of the ravine and back to safety, the toad blew a plume of smoke out of his pipe before looking around. **"So you're hiding now are ya Jiraiya? I knew you to be cowardly but I'd never imagine it'd be to this extent."**

"Ohayo Gama-ji. Jiraiya-sama didn't summon you. I did."

The toad narrowed his nonexistent eyebrows before picking his head up. Focusing his yellow eyes to the tiny speck on his nose, he had a heart attack seeing the yellow hair and blue eyes looking back at him.

 _"Kami-sama...he looks just like Minato. This is his brat?"_ thought the toad staring at Naruto. Getting over his shock in a few seconds, he decided to get down to brass tacks. **"One, The name's Gambunta kid. Two, don't lie to me. Someone like me can't be summoned by one such as you. And three, tell me where Jiraiya is since I know he has to be around here."**

"Nice to meet you Gambunta-sama." said Naruto cheerily before flaring a bit of his chakra. Gamabunta recoiled some at the strength of it as Naruto nodded. "I'm not lying, I did summon you. And to answer your question, Jiraiya-sama is right there."

Gamabunta stared at Naruto for several seconds and was impressed by the chakra he exuded and the calm way he responded to him. For as pipsqueak as the kid looked, he expected pipsqueak behavior. It still wasn't enough to garner his respect but it was a step in the right direction. Especially considering he pointed him in Jiraiya's location in the process.

 **"Still hiding are ya!"**

"Oh Gaki you suck!" shouted Jiraiya taking off in a sprint.

 **"Don't run now!** **Suiton: Teppodama (Water Style: Liquid Bullet)"** said Gamabunta before launching a massive ball of water at Jiraiya. The water ball detonated with concussive force that tore apart trees but Jiraiya managed to outpace it. He outpaced not only that one but the three follow up balls from the irate toad. **"Yeah! You better keep running!"**

Prepping another water ball, Gamabunta let loose with it. He knew he wouldn't hit Jiraiya no matter how hard he tried. But it was just the principle of the matter. He needed Jiraiya to-

"Futon: Reppusho (Wind Style: Gale Palm)"

Gamabunta blinked hearing a clap come from the pipsqueak on his nose that preceded a violent gust of wind. The wind hit Gamabunta's water bullet and sped it up tremendously. So much so that Jiraiya's eyes widened substantially as it impacted off him in a watery splash. Jiraiya sat soaked and crushed in between trees as he looked up at Naruto.

"...Why...how? A combination jutsu...just..ugh" asked Jiraiya though no one could hear his weak voice.

"That's for tossing me down a ravine! You could have just asked me to summon a toad ya jerk!" shouted Naruto with a fist raised. Naruto felt the toad he still stood on shaking as he turned to Gamabunta. "Everything alright Gamabunta-sama?"

 **"Gwahahaha! Oh that's priceless!"** croaked Gamabunta with a deep belly laugh. Gamabunta even took a webbed hand to his eye to remove a nonexistent tear from it. **"Oh man kid. I haven't laughed like that in a while. That's two. One more and I might take you on as an apprentice kid."**

"Just one more?"

 **"It'd have to be better than the last one."** informed Gamabunta getting Naruto's eyes to widen. **"Yep. We'll share a drink and it'll be the best decision of your life."**

"Hmm, well you're a powerful Summoning, I can feel it. I'm certain your loyalty lies with your summoners and I've been itching to tell someone this anyway." said Naruto before looking at Gamabunta. Gamabunta stared at Naruto for several seconds before the kid just smiled as the toad's pipe fell out of his mouth. "Is that good enough to be your apprentice boss?"

 **"..."**

"Boss?"

 **"Yes. You pass kid. Welcome aboard."** said Gamabunta robotically with a guffawed expression. **"I'll get those drinks ready..."**

"Yatta! Think I'll tell Jiraiya-sama too. And Hokage-jiji. They deserve to know don't ya think?" questioned Naruto as Gambunta didn't respond. Naruto then perked up before smiling. "Or maybe I'll keep them in the dark. I need more time to perfect myself before everyone can know. Or maybe not. Either way, gotta go Gamabunta-sama. Will summon you soon for that shared drink."

Gamabunta watched Naruto jump off him and disappear into the foliage below. Gamabunta sat still for several long seconds before finally snapping out of it.

 _ **"That kid has the Rinnegan...where the hell did Jiraiya find him?"** _questioned Gamabunta before deciding he needed his own drink and dispelling in a poof of smoke.

 _(Earlier- Elsewhere in the forest)_

 _"Purple eyes, giant toads, and some kind of wind attack."_ thought a girl dressed in camouflage as she looked at a notepad. It was full of notes on things she'd witnessed Naruto do and the list just kept piling up. "I'm going to figure you out if it's the last thing I do. You can't hide Naruto."

The girl looked back up at the giant toad she'd seen Naruto summon before watching a huge plume of smoke cover it. The girl blinked several times before seeing the smoke dissipate and the toad itself gone just as easily as it appeared.

 _"It vanished? Then where did Naruto go?"_ thought the camouflaged girl scanning for the sudden enigma that'd been plaguing her thoughts since the second task of the Chunin Exams.

"...wind attack. Managed to hit Jiraiya of the Sannin with it." the girl heard the voice and froze because of its proximity. She heard a smooth chuckle as she turned around to see Naruto holding her notepad. "I assume the stars are a rating? Surprised that's only a three compared to the purple eyes getting a five. He is a Sannin you know?"

"..." the girl said nothing in hopes that a lack of movement meant Naruto couldn't see her or at the least tell who she was.

"Hey Ino- _chan._ " said Naruto with a wave as he handed the shell shocked girl her notepad back.

"..it-it isn't really that impressive since you had the toad helping you." informed Ino getting her speech back when Naruto gave her back her notepad. How creepy did she look right now? Oh, it was so embarrassing but she had to trudge on to remove the awkwardness. "And I'm biased. I like the eyes more. Favorite color and all."

"These eyes?" questioned Naruto turning on his Rinnegan. Ino's eyes widened at seeing them again because it confirmed what she saw a week and a half ago. She really wasn't crazy. "Sorry for making you stir crazy. The prankster in me couldn't pass on such an opportunity to mess with someone."

"..." Ino was lost in the eyes again feeling the immense power they had. She hadn't felt anything stronger in her life. But she wasn't so lost in them to miss what Naruto said. "I wasn't going stir crazy. You think me, Ino, would ever fret over a boy?"

"Yes. You do with Sasuke all the time."

"I, hmph, that's just a thing with forehead. To motivate her. Plus, he's my future husband. It's only right I fuss over him." said Ino before returning her eyes to Naruto's breathtaking ones.

"Hmm, and you being dressed in camouflage, hiding along the outskirts of Konoha where only I'm at, writing meticulous notes about me isn't fretting over a boy?"

"...no." answered Ino weakly. Her tone wasn't believable at all. And when did Naruto learn to conversate with girls? _"It almost sounds like he's flirting. But no, it's just Naruto. The same Naruto."_ But he wasn't the same Naruto. And now that she really looked, his eyes were different. _"There's tomoe in them now. 9 of them, 3 on each ring. Did they-"_

"Yes." said Naruto seemingly reading Ino's mind. "My chakra was haywire thanks to my run-in with Orochimaru. Jiraiya-sama fixed that though and yeah, my eyes are full power. Hence the tomoe."

 _"That's why they feel so much more intense..."_ thought Ino before realizing something weird. Naruto just read her mind? Wasn't she the one from the clan of mind readers? _"Is he really reading my-"_

"Yes, it's pretty easy to read your mind when you're crazy about me like you are."

 _"I'm not crazy..."_

"Heh, gonna deny that forever are you?" questioned Naruto getting Ino to nod her head. She then gave him a look that said stop answering her thoughts. Naruto just smiled before nodding his head. "Fine, you're not crazy."

"Thank you."

"But now the prankster in me isn't satisfied. I need people to think you're crazy. You're the only one who's seen these besides Gamabunta." said Naruto with a smile that got Ino's eyes to widen. "I was thinking about revealing these to everyone but I'd much rather see you try to prove it instead. I'm sure you've told them you were going to do so."

And he was right. The past week and a half Ino had told everyone about Naruto. No one believed her of course because Naruto was the same Naruto the entire time since. He hadn't even shown her his eyes again until just now. But now he was letting her know he'd been aware and planned to torment her further.

"Naruto...you better not." said Ino before realizing how close she was to him. They were only a few inches apart. When did she get here? Was she really that mesmerized by his eyes. And why did he look taller than her now? _"Stupid thoughts. Time to get things straight with new Naruto here."_ Ino poked his chest sharply before giving him a stern look. "I'm Ino, you're Naruto. I'm the boss, you're...under me somewhere down there. And you're going to tell everyone. I can't be looked at as a liar. Especially when I'm actually not lying."

"Thats the whole point. Good luck, Ino-chan." said Naruto before vanishing.

Ino blinked seeing him disappear. She could see a phantasm of him actually leaving somehow. His entire exit seemed captured by a series of after images. It disappeared into the forest but the images before her looked like she could still touch them. Which she tried to only for her finger to go through the one before her.

"I am going crazy..." realized Ino as she looked at her notepad and dreaded the coming days. Naruto was the Prankster King from Hell and she was now in his crosshairs. "This is going to be so difficult."

* * *

 _(Three weeks later - Konoha Stadium)_

"Eww, you look so gross Ino-buta."

"..."

"...Ino?"

"..."

"Ino!"

"Huh? Oh, hey Sakura." said Ino absentmindedly before returning her eyes to the field below. She kept staring with a blank look until she felt a tapping on her shoulder. "Huh? Oh, hey Sakura."

"You already said that Ino. Is everything alright?"

"Hmm, I did? Weird. And yeah, everything is fine."

"Are you sure?" questioned Sakura looking at Ino's uncharacteristically dishelved appearance. She had errant strands of her hair sticking up, bags under her eyes, and it looked like she hadn't even put make up on. Not that she needed it but it was noticeable. "Are you sure everything is okay? You look...terrible."

"..."

"...Ino?"

"Huh? Oh, hey Sakura." said Ino for a third time before returning her eyes to the field below.

Sakura looked worriedly at her friend before she heard snickers next to her. Next to her sat Team 8's equivalent to Naruto in ego, Inuzaka Kiba. And he seemed to know what the problem with Ino was if his laughing was any indication.

"What's so funny Kiba? You know what's wrong with Ino?"

"Heh, yeah. Here's a hint, it's an idiot with yellow hair."

"Idiot with yellow hair? Naruto?" questioned Sakura getting more laughs as confirmation. "Oi, my teammate isn't an idiot. He's just..not there all the way at times."

"No, he's an idiot."

"That beat you with one punch."

"..he just..argh" grumbled Kiba with his pride stomped on. Sakura smiled victoriously as Kiba pointed to Ino to get pass that reminder of his defeat. "Ino's been stuck on Naruto for the last month. Something about how he's hiding his true self since that Orochimaru thing."

"Ugh, she's still on about that? She got all of us to creep on him for several hours and all he did was eat ramen and sleep." said Sakura with a sigh looking at her friend. "Then we watched him train that one time and all he did was try to climb theat mountain without chakra because his new Sensei is a slavemaster."

"Yep. She's obsessed though and won't give it up. Naruto's just Naruto."

Sakura nodded at that before she turned to her friend. Ino's eyes were still glued to the field as she saw Naruto and Neji facing off against one another. Ino nodded her head internally as the fight began.

"Neji should be strong enough to push you to show yourself Naruto-kun. I just know it." said Ino lowly to herself with a small smile. That smile ended when she realized how smooth Naruto-kun rolled off her tongue. "Meh, doesn't matter. I will expose you."

 _(Naruto vs Neji)_

Blue eyes lazily stared into the sky while white eyes bore into the nonchalant visage of his opponent. Neji was settled into his stance because the proctor had started the match several seconds ago. Naruto however, stood with his hands in his pockets and a wistful look on his face.

 _"What kind of game is he playing?"_ thought Neji not moving an inch. He wasn't going to rush Naruto. He felt himself superior but he also remembered Naruto one shot the Inuzaka boy during the prelims. He didn't want to find out if the same would occur to him. _"What could possibly be going through his mind?"_

Neji didn't know what Naruto was thinking. All he knew was Naruto had changed clothes since the prelims. A black jacket that was lined orange on the inside replaced his bulky, eyesore one from before. A fishnet shirt on underneath that went into matching black pants and black shinobi sandals. His headband was nowhere to be seen as his yellow hair hung loosely in front of his face. All the while, his hands stayed in his pockets and his eyes continued to stare aimlessly upward.

"Is cereal technically soup?"

Neji blinked at the words from Naruto as he saw his opponent turn his eyes down to him. He seemed like he was waiting for an answer but Neji wasn't sure he heard him right. There was no way he just said what he said.

"What?"

"Is cereal technically soup? It's gotta be right?" continued Naruto now looking at the proctor of the finals. A different guy from the prelims who had a senbon in his mouth and an amused expression at Naruto's random existentialism. "You agree right Genma-san?"

"Can't say, I'm on the job. I'll let you know when this is over though kid." replied Genma getting Naruto to nod his okay.

"Sounds fair. It's a tough one anyway." said Naruto before turning his head back to Neji. A smile was on his face seeing the boy diligently wait. _"He's smart. And patient. I like him. I don't like what he did to Hinata-hime during their preliminary fight but...he's wise to not attack thinking I was unprepared."_ thought Naruto before deciding it was best to get this over with. He had better things to do. Like figuring out if cereal was soup or not. "Let's get to it! Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones)"

Four Narutos phased into existence that all sprinted at Neji immediately upon appearing. Neji's eyes went wide because there was no hand seal, no warning, or anything to show he was using a technique. The clones just appeared and were already closing in on Neji as he activated his Byakugan.

"It doesn't matter how many clones you use. My eyes see everything." said Neji ducking the attacks from the first two clones before spinning and catching the other two's strikes. Slapping their hands away, Neji dispelled them both with precision palms to the gut. "The Gentle Fist is the greatest Taijutsu in the world when paired with the Byakugan. You won't beat me with silly clones."

 _"I could. I don't plan to."_ thought Naruto receiving the memories from his clones. Such a useful jutsu and Naruto actually learned that on his own. How quaint. And thanks to those clones, Naruto now knew how to beat Neji. _"So useful that you dodge at the last moment."_ continued Naruto with his eyes closed as his Rinnegan came to life. Knowing his last two clones were dispelled, Naruto jumped at Neji as the Hyuga turned toward him during his fast approach. "And got you."

"Got me? You'll never even touch me." said Neji as he dodged Naruto's uppercut by the slimmest of margins. To everyone else it appeared like he got hit though because he flew back across the arena ragdoll fashion from the 'blow'. "...Wha-what..you actually hit me?"

 _" Tendo: Seiatsu (Deva Path: Subjugating Pressure)"_ thought Naruto using Hagoromo's gravity powers to nail Neji. Such a good thing Neji made everyone think he'd clocked him wasn't it? No explanation necessary as he turned off his Rinnegan and opened his eyes. "Yosh! You still up over there? I got more left. I've been looking to test this body."

 _"I didn't think he hit him but man, kid packs a punch."_ thought Genma watching Neji slowly get up from the 'haymaker'. He looked back at Naruto to see him shaking out his limbs like he was getting loose. _"I heard he got training from Jiraiya-sama but seriously, one month? And he's toying with the Genius Hyuga kid?"_

Neji finally stood up and got back into his fighting stance having shaken off the cobwebs from the blow. Naruto saw this but frowned when he really looked. The stance was noticeably weaker than before and Neji's legs were shaking. Even if he mentally could fight more, his body wouldn't allow him to threaten anyone really with those jelly legs.

"Give up. You can't continue Neji." said Naruto with sharp blue eyes. Neji noticed the stark shift in demeanor at Naruto's statement. It wasn't carefree anymore. It looked akin to a grown up scolding a child that was about to do something wrong. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me? You're the dead last of your class who got a lucky shot..." said Neji weakly trying to find some stamina. A second wind wouldn't come as he could still feel his bones rattling. How hard did Naruto hit him? "I can't lose to you. It's fate. I'm a genius and-"

"Right." said Naruto getting Neji's eyes to widen as Naruto now stood before him. Neji threw a reactionary palm that missed as Naruto was behind him already. Neji didn't even see him move either time. "Give up."

Neji didn't have to turn around to see Naruto's fist an inch from the back of his head. His hair and clothes were blowing forward as the wind from the punch was mighty. No question he'd be out of it had Naruto followed through. There was no way Naruto was this good? He was the dead last not half a year ago.

"You're the dead last...how are you this strong?"

"Because I didn't let a label like dead last hold me back. Just like your teammate, Rock Lee." said Naruto lowering his fist as he stood behind Neji. "He can't use Nin or Genjutsu. And he was the dead last of your class. But he'd beat the majority of Genin in this exam and some chunin if he were to fight them. And you know it" continued Naruto with a smile. "Don't allow such things to hold you back. To keep you boxed in to one train of thought. That's dangerous and it's how you'll end up losing your life if this were a real fight."

Neji heard Naruto's words and looked down at the ground in thought. Naruto's words reached his ears but they wouldn't stay. You didn't reverse years of hate and angst with simple talking. How dare Naruto try to talk to him like he could ever understand his struggle? What he's been through? He had no clue of his pain.

"It doesn't matter. You're still a dead last and you're in my field of divination." said Neji turning around in a new stance with no signs of fatigue. "Two palms-"

"Futon: Kyofu Reppa (Wind Style: Consecutive Bursting Strong Winds)" said Naruto with a very cold look.

Neji was a few feet from jabbing Naruto with the start of his technique but a vicious crosswind kipped up that froze him in place. All Neji could see within the winds was Naruto's cold demeanor as the yellow haired Genin clapped his hands. The crosswind turned into a torrent that launched the Hyuga violently across the arena and planted him firmly in the wall several inches. Neji didn't move again after that.

"Hmm, hell of a jutsu. Shousa, Uzumaki Naruto." said Genma as the crowd looked stunned for a second before erupting in cheers at the display.

Naruto smiled happily at the cheers as he ran out of the arena blowing kisses and waving all the while. Naruto did stop momentarily before looking up at the Kage's box. He knew Hiruzen was watching and he gave him the biggest thumbs up ever before continuing his sprint back to the fighters' box.

 _(Kage's Box)_

Hiruzen smiled seeing the display from Naruto just now. The grin even grew when he saw him throw him a thumbs up as well.

"A confident young man isn't he?"

"It would seem so. He has no reason not to be wouldn't you say Kazekage-dono?" questioned Hiruzen looking to the blue robed man sitting next to him.

"I would. A very impressive display indeed. Against that genius Hyuga boy no less." said the Kazekage with his sharp eyes watching Naruto. He turned to his contemporary and nodded appraisingly. "Very strong and that wind jutsu was very advanced for one his age. I didn't know Wind style that powerful was viable outside of Suna."

"Well he's being taught by my student, Jiraiya. It seems to have bore great fruit."

"It most certainly has if that's any indication. Hopefully the rest of the matches are less one sided."

Hiruzen just smiled and nodded as they prepared to watch the next match.

 _(In the Stands)_

"Hell yeah Naruto! WOOO!" exclaimed Sakura in cheer for her teammate. Sakura was flexing her bicep as she held it with her other arm and a smug grin on her face. "It's going to be a team 7 finals. I just know it."

"Damn, Naruto is a badass. I thought he got lucky against me but he tore apart the guy who beat Hinata." said Kiba with a whistle. "How good of a Sensei is that Kakashi guy?"

"Kakashi-Sensei is good. Really good. Not sure about teaching though. But remember, he's been training with Jiraiya-sama for the last month."

"Oh yeah. That guy's ridiculous strong from what my ka-chan says. How did he get so lucky?"

"Stop it!" shouted Ino at the back and forth between Kiba and Sakura. Why were they rationalizing this? "I'm telling you. Naruto could do that before he ever met Jiraiya-sama. Jiraiya-sama didn't make him do anything besides that toad thing and conditioning. You all came with me to watch him..."

"Yeah. We watched for like two days and that's what we saw. He probably did it on the other days. It's not like we watched him every second or something this past month. That'd be crazy." chimed in Kiba as Ino blew out a sigh.

 _"I did watch him every second..."_ thought Ino before dropping her shoulders. She was crazy. But she was going to prove herself right. That'd take all the crazy away. It had to. "I'll be right back."

"Bye Pig."

"Later Crazy."

Ino ignored the nicknames and made a mental log to get both of them back later. Right now, she was on a mission and she needed to find Naruto. She needed him to set this straight. She wouldn't be able to deal with this any longer. Stupid prank had gone on for long enough.

"I'm going to get you to tell everyone. If it's the last thing I do."

 _(With Naruto)_

Sprinting up the stairs to return to the fighter's booth, Naruto absolutely glided up them with a smile on his face. He was going to win this tournament easily. There was no Genin here that could match him. Hagoromo felt bad about it all. It seemed unfair. But the Naruto part of him knew life wasn't fair so it was what it was.

In his haste to return to the booth, Naruto ran clean pass the red headed teen from Suna. The boy didn't acknowledge Naruto at all beyond a stare that actually got Naruto to stop and turn around. Naruto tilted his head at Gaara before waving.

"Yo."

"Mother wants to kill you."

"Mother?"

"She's never wanted anyone's blood more. She's chomping at the bit."

 _"Who the hell is this Mother?"_ thought Naruto before realizing who Gaara was. _"No way. Did Shukaku..."_

Gaara watched Naruto stare at him for several seconds before the Konoha ninja gulped nervously. Gaara didn't care one bit about Naruto's apprehension because either way, he'd be dead by the end of the day. That's what Gaara was seeing though. Currently, he was locked in a gaze with Naruto's Rinnegan.

"Rinnegan Genjutsu." said Naruto stalling Gaara before delving into the Jinchuriki's mind. Seeing its chaotic state, Naruto shook his head. "Man, I thought Naruto was bad off. This is horrible."

Trudging through the boy's fragile mind state, Naruto found who he was looking for. A massive sand beast in the shape of a tanuki stood with loose chains around him. A representation of the flimsy seal that bound him to Gaara. The yellow diamond eyes of the Bijuu noticed Naruto's presence and looked confused at his being there.

"Shukaku-kun. What have you done to this child?" asked Naruto slowly walking toward the tailed beast.

 **"Why do you speak to me so familiarly? I don't even know any midgets."** said Shukaku with a laugh. Facing Naruto, Shukaku launched a wind bullet that was quadruple the size of the boy. **"And get out of here before I-"**

"Gakido (Preta Path)" said Naruto absorbing the wind attack while continuing his walk unharmed and uninhibited. Shukaku recognized the technique before looking closer and seeing Naruto's eyes. Shukaku's own eyes widened seeing the Rinnegan staring back at him. "Once again Shukaku-kun. What have you done to this child? Why is he calling you Mother?"

 **"Old man?"** questioned Shukaku not getting any confirmation or denial from Naruto. The boy stood right before him and looked up at him unflinchingly. There was no way his 'dad' had returned. **"Did you somehow reincarnate?"**

"Answer my question Shukaku-kun. What have you done to this child? Why are you tormenting him? What has he done to you?" questioned Naruto only getting a shocked look from the Bijuu. Naruto continued to look at Shukaku as he waited for an answer. "Ashura Senku (Demon Flashing Air). One last time, what have you done to this child?"

Shukaku blinked as Naruto now stood on his nose, a few feet from his eyes. The stern look was amplified by the Samsara eyes that kept Shukaku frozen. Had he looked, he'd have seen a phantasm of Naruto traveling up his body to appear on his nose in an instant. Instead, he was stuck staring into the nine tomoe Rinnegan that felt as though it were staring into his soul.

"Shukaku-kun. Answer me."

 **"...I...I..."** started Shukaku shaking his head before Naruto finally broke eye contact with him as if he felt something nearby. Shukaku watched him turn his stare back to him in a 'Im not finished with you' fashion before vanishing from his mind. **"...has Jiji returned? There's no way. I must be hallucinating..."**

Naruto continued to lock eyes with Gaara in the real world until he felt an unwelcome presence. Well, not really unwelcome as much as untimely. He was in the middle of scolding his 'child' and she was ruining it. He didn't want to punish his kid in front of someone. He wished he could because Shukaku deserved it but he just wasn't that guy to be honest.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted Ino finally seeing the boy plaguing her thoughts. Seeing him locked in a staring contest with the Suna Jinchuriki was weird but it didn't matter. "You need to go tell-oh!"

"Bad timing Ino-chan." said Naruto appearing next to Ino while wrapping her waist up in one arm and pulling her close. Ino blushed at the close proximity as Naruto pointed to Gaara. "Crazy guy thinks he scares me so we can't be here to disprove that."

"Huh? Oh, speaking of disprove-"

The two vanished in a phantasm as the Genjutsu on Gaara finished with Naruto scampering off after his threat. His words spoken, Gaara disappeared in a Suna shunshin to prepare for his impending battle against the Uchiha.

* * *

 _(With Naruto and Ino)_

"-disprove, I need you to..." continued Ino from earlier before realizing they were no longer in that stairway. They weren't even in the Chunin Exam Stadium as they were on the other side of the village. "Naruto-kun?! How did we get...Hokage Monument?!"

"I have a form of teleportation Ino-chan. It's pretty neat if I had to say." said Naruto showing Ino the phantasm of them moving across Konoha. Ino saw her image stuck mid speech and realized it was instantaneous because she hadn't even noticed they were moving. "And Naruto- _kun_? When did that start?"

"..." Ino blushed realizing she indeed said that. Gosh it just rolled off her tongue. "When did you start calling me chan?"

"When you started becoming obsessed with me and my purple eyes."

"I think anyone would do the same in my shoes."

"I'm not too sure." said Naruto with a smile watching Ino huff indignantly. He then took in her appearance and his emotionless eyes softened a bit. "Rinnegan."

"Huh?"

"My eyes. They're called the Rinnegan."

"Rinnegan?" questioned Ino testing the name as Naruto nodded. "Hmm, better than purple eyes I guess."

"Just a tad. Would you like to know what they do?" asked Naruto getting wide eyes from Ino. He could throw her a bone for the loss sleep she's had over him. Even if she wouldn't admit to such a thing. "Right then, Rinnegan. I can see chakra, even the flow of it within your body. Primarily the Eight tenketsu commonly referred to as the Eight Gates." said Naruto tapping each of the gates on Ino while he spoke. Some were in places a bit intimate and worthy of a slap if she wasn't so enraptured by his words and blushing so heavily. "I could master any jutsu given time. And use all five elements."

"Any jutsu? And all the elements?" questioned Ino disbelievingly as Naruto smiled before clapping his hands together.

"You've seen wind. But I don't mind doing it again. It's my favorite so far." said Naruto as 4 Clones appeared. They all turned to face off the monument before their chests puffed up and they spoke in synchronized harmony. "Goton Rendan (Five Element Combo)"

Ino watched as each Naruto shot out a stream of a different element. Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth, and Wind all blew out together for several seconds until Naruto stopped and his clones dispelled. Naruto turned back to the girl to see her just wide eyed and in awe.

"I haven't even gotten to the Rikudo (Six Paths) yet."

Ino watched the tomoe in Naruto's Rinnegan spin before she felt his chakra intensify. Naruto wanted someone to know all he could do. He'd been dying to tell someone. Ino should consider herself lucky because a show was about to be put on that Naruto had been chomping at the bit to put on.

 _(One hour later)_

"-and that's about all I got." said Naruto as a black flame licked at his body. It wasn't hot or anything. It just covered him from head to toe until he turned it off and took in a deep breath. "Man. That felt so good getting that all out and remembering how awesome I am. I still got more, this body just isn't ready for them yet." Naruto smiled heavily before turning to Ino. "Thanks for listening Ino-chan. I feel this weight just...lifted. I feel good."

"..."

"Ino-chan?"

"..."

"Oh no, I broke Ino...aw man." said Naruto fretting over the frozen girl.

She'd taken a seat a few minutes into Naruto's display which lasted much longer than she anticipated. The five elements thing was already jaw dropping. When he started to dive into the absorbing chakra, gravity manipulation, and mechanical body stuff, Ino's mind fried because he had so much more crazy things. She was out of there a while ago.

"Ino-chan, please snap out of it." pleaded Naruto giving his best puppy dog eyes to plead with her. Only with the Rinnegan, the puppy dogs eyes looked more frightening than cute which got Ino to scream in horror. Naruto returned to his normal look and smiled seeing her back. "Thank Kami. I thought I melted your brain."

Ino just stared at Naruto which unnerved the Rinnegan user at its blankness. Ino kept the stare up for roughly a minute before her hand moved up to Naruto's face. Naruto rose an eyebrow at the hand on his cheek as a faint blush rose.

"Ino-chan?"

"Thank you."

"Hmm?"

"For showing me all of that. I really appreciate it." said Ino as her blank stare softened and a grateful look replaced it. Naruto smiled again as Ino patted his cheek. "How did all of this happen? Did Orochimaru do it?"

"I've had it since birth basically. But you can say Orochimaru had a hand in it. He helped me unlock my full potential so to speak when he beat me." said Naruto before seeing Ino frown.

"Why did you show me all of that?"

"What do you mean?"

"That..everything. We're not exactly close Naruto-kun. We're not even on the same team." said Ino removing her hand as she gave Naruto a curious stare. "Other than graduating together, we don't really have any other interactions. So why me? Why not forehead? Or Sasuke-kun?"

 _"You remind me of Hagoromo's lover and the nostalgic feeling I get with your similarities to her is comforting."_ thought Naruto in reply seeing an image of the woman overlap Ino's own face. Ino saw the fond look he was giving her before he just shook his head to keep her from making assumptions. He wasn't about to start liking Ino so suddenly just because she mirrored someone from Hagoromo's life. "Just call it, hmm, well, I guess you could say..."

Ino saw Naruto trail off his answer before he turned sharply toward the Chunin Exam Stadium. Ino could feel the temperature drop several degrees when Naruto clenched his fist tightly.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?"

 _"I haven't been paying attention. You better not Shukaku..."_ thought Naruto before turning back to Ino. "We need to head back to the stadium. Something troubling is happening."

Ino's eyes widened at that news before she just nodded her head. Naruto grabbed her hand before the two of them disappeared instantly. A phantasm of their route the only thing marking their vanishing.

 _(Chunin Exam Stadium - Moments Earlier)_

Being the first match, Naruto knew he would have plenty of time to return before his next match would happen. The next three matches all had someone with a very slow fighting style. Shino with his bugs faced Kankuro the Suna Puppeteer, Shikamaru with his shadow faced the wind user, Temari, and Gaara of the Sand went against his teammate, Sasuke. The first three of each match were very slow and methodical fighters so they would take time to finish their opponents or be finished in return.

Only thing was, Naruto didn't foresee Kankuro forfeiting. That definitely lessened the time between matches and could have been worst if Shikamaru did the same. Which the boy was about to do until his sensei yelled at him that his mom would kick his ass if he didn't get down there. He did reluctantly, pulled off a brilliant strategy after over a half hour of fighting, before forfeiting when he had the win. He didn't have much chakra left and he'd have to face Gaara or Sasuke next round and either wouldn't bode well for him anyway.

The crowd didn't like that, his own classmates didn't either, but the judges loved his display and foresight. Gaara and Sasuke's match almost didn't happen too because Sasuke wasn't there. He appeared at the last second before he would have been disqualified though in grandiose fashion. Their fight was much more engaging than the previous two.

Sasuke tore Gaara asunder with simple Taijutsu that awed the crowd at it's finesse and strength. Taijutsu he copied from Rock Lee after said boy thrashed Gaara during the prelims with it. While an impressive copy, Rock Lee's Taijutsu was still many times more potent and Rock Lee ended up losing in the end anyway. Sasuke's copy wouldn't come close to what Rock Lee did so Taijutsu wouldn't finish off the Ichibi Jinchuriki.

Something Sasuke knew when Gaara closed himself in a sturdy dome of sand that kept the Uchiha at bay. That was until Sasuke used Chidori. A lightning ninjutsu that coats the user's palm in lightning to aid in its attack. It was a simple stab forward that managed to reach Gaara himself within the dome.

Gaara preceded to lose his mind at that strike stabbing into him before all hell broke loose. A Genjutsu spread over the entirety of the stadium that captured everyone not an adept shinobi before a mass of Oto and Suna shinobi appeared. It was the start of an invasion as even the Kazekage attacked the Hokage and trapped him at the top of the Chunin Exam Stadium.

Gaara's brother and sister, Kankuro and Temari, reached Gaara to get him to the middle of the village and have him terrorize it with his powers. Sasuke managed to stop them along with some help from Shino and Sakura thankfully. Shino took Kankuro away which left Temari alone with her groveling brother, Gaara, who was still hurting from the Chidori to the chest.

Sasuke was handling Temari easily until Gaara seemed to rejuvenate as his gourd covered his injured torso. Gaara became an offensive berserker from that point forward that began to bat Sasuke around with an insane look on his face. Sasuke was doing okay but it'd be any moment he'd get caught cleanly by the unstable Jinchuriki before him whose power continued to rise. That was until a phantasm appeared that got Sasuke's Sharingan to widen. It looked like Naruto and Ino but he couldn't really be sure as his head swam from Gaara's earlier abuse.

"Sasuke-kun. Are you hurt?"

Sasuke looked over to the girl helping him and noticed it was Ino. Looking back, the phantasm was gone along with Gaara who'd been a few feet from body checking him once more. Sakura jumped over to Sasuke with the danger gone to make sure he was alright just like Ino.

"Wait, where's Gaara?" questioned Sasuke as Ino smiled and turned deeper into the forest.

"Naruto is handling him." said Ino having seen Naruto take Gaara upon their arrival further away to subdue him.

Which they were deeper in the forest as Naruto launched Gaara through a tree from their high speed arrival. Naruto's Rinnegan stared coldly at Gaara who looked up at him with a maniacal look in his eyes. Naruto's actual stare wasn't at Gaara because he couldn't be mad at the boy. His stare was at 'his' creation, Shukaku.

"Stop this Shukaku-kun." said Naruto with an icy tone. He was standing before the beast within Gaara's mind as he could see the Bijuu pause seeing him there again. "I won't ask you again."

 **"..."** Shukaku stood frozen before shaking his head. Naruto could see the Bijuu getting angrier at his being here because his Chakra was rising immensely. **"You may have my creator's eyes but don't assume you can tell me what to do! You're not him!"**

Naruto's face didn't change a bit as Gaara jumped at him aggressively from Shukaku's outrage. Gaara got several feet from Naruto before taking a swipe at him with his sand claw transformed right arm. Naruto dodged the claw before a black rod protruded out of his right sleeve into his hand.

Gaara felt the rod stab his claw into the ground before his chakra felt funny. Gaara felt another one stab his sand tail into the ground that increased the feeling. So much so that his haywire chakra stagnated with the second rod as he couldn't move anymore. He couldn't even feel his 'Mother'.

"Wha-what...did you do to me?" questioned Gaara watching Naruto walk before him.

"Your Mother isn't your mother. It's the Bijuu within you, Shukaku." said Naruto calmly as Gaara saw the purple, emotionless eyes of his current adversary. "I know nothing of your upbringing and I can't imagine what that was like if Shukaku-kun was allowed such freedoms with you and your mind. Especially as he is. But I can't allow you to rampage and do harm to anyone."

"My Mother is...Shukaku?" questioned Gaara getting a nod from Naruto. "But that..that..."

 **"Gaara...kill him..."**

 _"Mother?"_ questioned Gaara in his head feeling a massive surge of power.

 **"Kill him now!"**

 _"Dammit Shukaku-kun. This body still can't suppress a Bijuu yet."_ thought Naruto watching Gaara explode in an enormous sand storm. Shukaku stood in his full might a few seconds after the sandstorm calmed down as Naruto just let out a sigh. "It's never easy is it?"

Shukaku looked down at Naruto to see him bringing his thumb up to his mouth. Snarling angrily, the sand tanuki stomped Naruto into nonexistence with a heavy foot before laughing at being free once more.

 **"Hahaha! I'm back! Time to-"**

"Kuchiyose (Summoning)"

Shukaku stopped laughing to see an enormous toad appear in a poof of smoke before him. Naruto stood atop the red toad looking none too pleased at the Bijuu before him.

"Gamabunta-sama, I need your assistance for a moment."

 **"Hmm? Oh, it's you again kid. What do you-Oh hell no!"** shouted Gamabunta seeing the Ichibi standing before him. Who did this kid think he was asking if he could take on a Bijuu? **"Kid, that's the One-tail. We can't-"**

"..."

 **"...oh right."** said Gamabunta having looked up in his warning to see Naruto's Rinnegan. Gamabunta looked back at Shukaku to see the Bijuu launch a fast wind bullet at him. **"Shit."**

"Don't worry." said Naruto sending out a gravity blast that negated the attack with ease. "I need to heat him up. Sand becomes glass and it makes him easier to bring down. You're a Myobokuzan toad so I'm hoping you can use oil? I'll bring the fire if so."

 **"Heh, that I can kid."** said Gamabunta watching Shukaku ready another wind bullet. **"Here we go kid."**

Wind Bullet versus Toad oil would likely stalemate. Wind bullet versus toad oil that was aided by-"Katon: Karura (Fire Style: Karura)"-a humanoid bird made of fire easily trumped the wind bullet. Fire was naturally stronger than wind anyway but aided by the toad oil from Gambunta, the fire bird pierced the wind bullet before blasting into Shukaku's belly in a fiery eruption.

 **"Goodness kid. Did you even need me?"** questioned Gamabunta watching Shukaku burn from the red hot flames coating him below his neck. When his toad oil met the wind bullet, the two stalemated for a split second before a massive bird made of fire combined with the oil and steamrolled its way into the tanuki. **"That fire bird avatar-"**

"Phoenix"

 **"-ah, Phoenix. That's easier to say and it could have probably won without me. That thing was powerful kid"** said Gamabunta watching the flames heat Shukaku's sand. Like Naruto said, the wailing beast was turning to glass slowly from the volatile flames it futilely tried to snuff out. What a way to defeat such a monster. **"I can probably send a water bullet that'd shatter him if that's..."**

Gamabunta trailed off when he couldn't feel Naruto standing atop his head any longer. All he could see was a phantasm of Naruto shifting through the air toward Shukaku.

 **"Nooooo! I was just free!"** shouted Shukaku still burning as Naruto appeared in front of Gaara, who sat exposed on Shukaku's forehead asleep, with an axe fist ready.

"Shurado (Asura Path)" said Naruto before dropping the hammer so to speak and sending the Jinchuriki through the body of his now fragile Bijuu. The power exerted by the blow was enough to blow the flames out as Gaara rocketed down through his Bijuu. Shukaku shattered like the glass he was mostly made of now and destabilized, sending glass shards and his remaining sand all throughout the forest. "I can't believe Shukaku-kun would do such a thing. Has the usage of Jinchuriki really made my creations so violent and untrusting of humanity? Within me they were fine. And I'd hoped, despite being trapped, they would be able to live together in harmony like when they were within me. What could have happened?"

Naruto stood in the remains of the defeated Shukaku as he looked over at Gaara. The boy was bleeding from his head but Naruto's Rinnegan could see he would survive. He'd need medical attention but otherwise, the kid would be fine. He had Sand armor on before Naruto struck him with his mechanically enhanced body that absorbed most of the blow.

 **"What do you expect? Beings such as us stuck within the confines of a human is degrading. Especially because they weren't like Jiji, they abused our power and treated us like simple tools. Of course we would develop negative feelings toward humanity."** came a voice within Naruto's mind. **"Even when Shukaku realized you had the Rinnegan, it didn't matter. Because you aren't Hagoromo. And you never will be so of course we wouldn't like you either."**

 _"Hmm, thought you weren't going to talk to me Kurama-kun. How I'm a faux jiji and all that."_ thought Naruto in reply to the Tailed beast within him.

 **"I still don't plan to. Because you are a cheap imitation of the man who made me."** said Kurama watching Naruto appear within his seal to look at him. Not wanting to look at Naruto's caring disposition, Kurama closed his eyes and settled his chin on his paws. He wasn't Hagoromo but that look was the same Hagoromo used to give him anytime he was down. It was agitating how much it looked like he cared. **"Just figured I'd give you some perspective since you couldn't figure out why us Bijuu despise you humans."**

Naruto kept his stare on Kurama for several seconds longer before nodding his head.

"I'm sure you'll come around Kurama-kun. I'd stay to listen to more but I can feel the Sandaime is in trouble. His chakra is low." said Naruto before turning around and walking away. "Rain check on that."

 **"Tch, not a chance."**

Naruto smiled before vanishing from his mind. He had someone he needed to save.

 _(Chunin Exam Stadium)_

 _"Orochimaru-sama needs to hurry the fuck up. My nose itches and I'm tired of holding up this stupid barrier..."_ thought a red headed girl with brown eyes. Located in one corner of a large rectangle, she held her hands up that stabilized a formidable purple barrier. _"This is at least keeping people from interrupting Orochimaru-sama killing his once sensei. That one stupid ass Anbu burned to death trying to make it through before this went up. Dumb piece of shit."_

The girl smiled to herself remembering that before twitching her nose. It seriously itched but she couldn't move her hands or else the barrier would go down. The barrier was going down anyway though so it really didn't matter. She could just scratch her-

"Wait, what the fuck?" questioned the girl realizing now that the barrier was slowly disappearing into what looked like a vacuum before her. The barrier vanished entirely as she saw the culprit behind it. He had yellow hair and very cold, purple eyes "Who the fuck are you?"

"Thats not important because I'm just a clone." said Naruto after absorbing the chakra that sustained the barrier to remove it entirely. "What is important is information. And I don't have time to waste here. Jigokudo: Meifu no O (Naraka Path: King of Hell)"

The world went black for the girl as she found herself unable to move. She couldn't speak either as her tongue was being held by something that she couldn't see thanks to the darkness. Instantly, the place illuminated to show Naruto standing before her and some red construct with three fingers pulling her tongue a ridiculous length from her mouth. The girl looked left and right to see her other three teammates, the three who helped form that barrier, all in similar predicaments.

 _"He captured all of us? How..."_

"Welcome to Hell. Like I told you all each, I don't have time." said Naruto looking at all of them. "Which of you is the leader?" None of them answered of course but Naruto wasn't looking for that. Feeling chakra flow from the one with the orange Mohawk, Naruto walked to him. "Congrats, you're tried to escape first. Ningendo (Human Path)"

Naruto touched the boy's head before closing his eyes. A few seconds went by before Naruto nodded before removing his hand. The other three saw a ghoulish apparition attached to his hand that he tossed away deeper into 'Hell'. Looking back at the boy, they could see his body limp and seemed to be lifeless.

"Yes Sakon, I removed his soul. Doing so let's me read his mind. Which let me know you're the 'leader' when that fifth guy isn't around and likely the one with the information I want." said Naruto moving on to an effeminate looking boy with gray hair. Placing a hand to his head, the process repeated. "Ningendo"

Just like before, Naruto removed his hand after a few seconds and you could see the boy's soul in his hand. Naruto nodded his head before looking at the two remaining shinobi who had fearful eyes as to what their fate could be.

"I'll be back for you two." said Naruto before dispelling in a poof of smoke. The original Naruto remained atop the stadium with his eyes closed having looked through the eyes of his clone the entire time. Receiving all that information, Naruto nodded before looking out over the roof. "I'm coming Hokage-jiji. The 'Kazekage' will not live pass this day."

With that, Naruto disappeared in a phantasm to aid his Kage. He wouldn't let Orochimaru murder his pseudo grandfather. Not while he could do something about it at least.

* * *

 **And scene. Following the Exam premise with a few tweaks. Par the course when you jump into the Naruto world at a particular point. No worries, we'll dive into the nitty gritty, AU facet of this story during the next chapter. Just setting up the world is all. And speeding through the Chunin Exam arc. Hope you can fill in what I left off.**

 **Review if ya liked. Review if you didn't like. Either way, stay sexy.**

 **-Hamp**

 **P.S. Reviews are mostly fun. Especially the 'flames'. I give those good and deep belly laughs. One in particular was posted from some guy, KamiKyubi or something. It's so not important that I'm not going to bother looking it up. But basically, he told me "bye Hinata fan boy **** boy *****" and yadda. I saw it and chuckled heartily with a good shake of my noggin.** **If that guy thinks Hinata is the pairing because she gave Naruto ointment (like she did in Canon), I'm in tears. I only showed her really to show more moments of Hagoromo popping up in Naruto's words and thought pattern. I wouldn't ever do a Naru Hinata pairing. 1) it's Canon so it's already what actually happened. 2) There's like 1000+ Naruhinas here that already cover that pairing. 3) Just.. Lol.**

 **To that guy, seriously, you gotta chill. This is just fanfiction. Read that review peeps, it'll make you laugh. If this is like 8 months old, just go to this story's reviews, scroll to chapter 1 with that little bar thing, and find it. It's like one of the first ones I got. You'll laugh. Imma go do it now actually. Encore and all that jazz.**


	3. Better Than Your Best

**Fresh off the press! Chapter Three. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. I've been vegan for two whole years. Woo! Just thought I'd throw that out there. I'm not an extremist though. I'm not out here spouting _"Don't eat meat its-"_ blah blah blah. Meat is awesome. All for it if it's your forte. It's not mine anymore thanks to my girlfriend (read: future ex-wife). While vegan, it doesn't mean I should push said ideologies on you though. Eat meat I say if it makes you happy. And do what makes you happy. Anything that helps you not notice me pushing my other more devious ideals on to you subliminally through my fanfic stories instead. _*Insert maniacal laughter akin to a supervillain*_

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Better Than Your Best**

"Kukukuku sensei...you don't look like you're doing too well." laughed Orochimaru slowly walking toward the Sandaime.

Lying down on his back, Sarutobi Hiruzen really wasn't doing too well. Not only was his age showing itself at the worst time, his once student managed to summon Hiruzen's own senseis, the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokages. Summoned them by way of Edo Tensei (Impure World Ressurrection). A jutsu that was an affront to nature because it brought the dead back to the world of living. And Orochimaru just had to choose two of the most powerful shinobi in history didn't he?

 _"Hashirama-sensei and Tobirama-sensei..."_ thought Hiruzen looking left and right at the both of them. The two 'zombies' were also closing in on his downed frame along with Orochimaru to finish his beaten visage off for good. _"If Orochimaru had that jutsu perfected and brought them back closer to full power, this wouldn't have been any contest."_

Hiruzen wasn't wishing for that to be the case by any means though. Because even with the technique butchered so heavily, they were still running him ragged. The old Kage didn't have much chakra left. Orochimaru clearly had plenty and by way of Edo Tensei, Hashirama and Tobirama had an infinite supply. Hiruzen closed his eyes and felt like laying there and accepting his defeat because the odds were so heavily out of his favor. He couldn't though. He was the Hokage and needed to-

"You look like you could use a hand Jiji."

Hiruzen's eyes snapped open to see his red Hokage hat. The same hat he discarded earlier thanks to having more suitable combat gear underneath for his battle with Orochimaru. And underneath his Hokage's hat was a smiling Naruto looking down at him. Hiruzen wondered how Naruto got here but that was put in the back of his mind to marvel at his eyes.

 _"Those can't be..."_ thought Hiruzen recognizing the mythological eyes. He knew the legend of the Sage of Six Paths which included his unparalleled dojutsu, the Rinnegan. "...Naruto-kun. Your eyes. How did you-"

"I'll tell you later. For now, take it easy. I got this." said Naruto before placing a hand to Hiruzen's chest. Closing his eyes, Naruto removed his hand after a few seconds before nodding and walking away. "You look like you could use that. I'll be done in a second."

Hiruzen felt immediately rejuvenated. His low chakra supply filled back up to the brim and it was like the greatest shot of adrenaline ever. He felt twenty five again to be honest. He wouldn't need to use any of it because Naruto teleported him a safe distance away and didn't seem to want or need his assistance in the coming battle. The Hokage just watched Naruto stride toward the three headed monster Hiruzen himself had been facing without any apprehensiveness.

"Orochimaru, or should I say 'Kazekage-dono'? Either way, I'm your opponent now." informed Naruto getting closer and closer to the Snake Sannin in his walk.

Orochimaru's amused look at Naruto's being here to protect the Hokage turned to one of slight shock when he recognized Naruto's eyes.

 _"Those eyes...he has the Rinnegan?"_ questioned Orochimaru in his head remembering the vaunted dojutsu of the Sage of Six Paths. The leader of Akatsuki had the same ones but Naruto's had tomoe reminiscent of the Sharingan in them. Did that mean? _"Kukuku, only one way to find out."_

Orochimaru's look turned to one of pure interest as he mentally ordered the previous Hokages to attack Naruto. Naruto merely continued his walk straight to Orochimaru despite the two arriving a few feet away from him with synchronized attacks ready. Orochimaru watched as the two Kages were inexplicably thrown away from Naruto without him breaking stride once. Like some invisible wall hit them and proceeded to launch them violently across the Konoha stadium rooftop.

"Chikushodo: Kuchiyose (Animal Path: Summoning)" said Naruto placing his hands in the ram seal before stopping.

A sealing array appeared before him as a plume of smoke rose. The smoke dissipated to show a bipedal dog had been summoned. Though weirdly, the dog had the upper body of a bird. It was dressed like a Yamabushi warrior bar a mask, stood roughly 40 feet tall, and had large wings with Naruto's Rinnegan where its eyes were supposed to be. The beast crowed loudly before rushing Orochimaru with immense speed.

 _"He summoned a... it looks like a Tengu? Where did he find such a contract?"_ questioned Hiruzen watching from where Naruto left him. He could see the Summoning pestering Orochimaru as Naruto focused on perhaps the more dangerous foes in Hashirama and Tobirama. "They cannot be killed Naruto-kun. They'll just reform from any damage you do, no matter how severe. You have to seal their movements, make the summoner release the jutsu, or remove their soul."

Naruto had a jutsu planned to vaporize the two reincarnations regathering themselves from his earlier gravity blast. The shouted warning from the Sandaime reached his ears in time though as he actually looked surprised. They'd just reform no matter how hard he hit them? Who invented this jutsu?

 _"How was Jiji going to win this fight then? Does he have a technique that can seal them or remove their souls?"_ thought Naruto watching Hashirama place his hands in the Snake seal. His eyes picked up on the special way the kage's chakra molded. _"He has a Kekkai Genkai. And his chakra. Was he an earlier reincarnation of Ashura?"_

"Mokuton: Jukai Kotan (Wood Style: Nativity of a World of Trees)"

Trees began to emerge from the ground all around as Naruto took to dodging as they spawned. They were numerous and trapping in their creation as Hashirama amped them up even further. The trees grew to monstrous heights before they just stopped abruptly. Hashirama's body froze as he could see a phantasm of Naruto approaching him. While it seemed like he was moving slowly, Naruto really appeared instantly with a hand to the man's chest.

"Rest once more Shodai-sama." said Naruto removing Hashirama's soul when he took his hand off the Kage. The man's body decayed into ashes to reveal another body. Some Oto Shinobi from the looks as Naruto rose an eyebrow. "Figures a jutsu of such caliber would need a sacrifice like this to utilize it. A shame, I found it intriguing."

A black rod slid into Naruto's hand as he blocked a blind spot sword strike from Orochimaru. Orochimaru looked confused at how Naruto could have ever seen that coming. Orochimaru sadly didn't know that anything, be it a clone or one of his Animal Path summons, that had his Rinnegan, shared its vision with him. The 'Tengu' watched Orochimaru flee from it to try to catch Naruto unaware and by proxy, Naruto did too. Just like the attack flying toward him from the Nidaime.

"Gakido (Preta Path)" said Naruto raising his other arm to nullify and absorb a pressurized stream of water. Finished absorbing it, Naruto kept his hand toward Tobirama before turning his head to the undead Kage. "Tendo: Dometsu (Deva Path: Guiding Destruction). Rest again Nidaime-sama."

Orochimaru watched Tobirama haplessly fly toward Naruto before making contact with his hand. The Sannin then watched Naruto casually rip his soul out before the reincarnation deconstructed just like Hashirama did earlier. Fear began to creep into Orochimaru's heart watching Naruto train his eyes back to him as he could feel the unbridled power within them. Orochimaru made it his mission to get as far away from Naruto as possible and did so with haste.

 _"The Rinnegan. Such an amazing tool that grants so many abilities. Pain had nothing like this..."_ thought Orochimaru putting a lot of distance between himself and Naruto. This was nothing like the boy he'd easily defeated during the second task. _"Where did this power come from?"_

"You allowed this." said Naruto knowing what Orochimaru was thinking because it was written all over his face.

"..What?"

"When you cut my Bijuu off from me, this power was finally allowed to flow freely." said Naruto looking at Orochimaru as the tomoe in his eyes spun. If Orochimaru was closer, he'd notice the outer three tomoe had vanished. "Shun Goku Satsu (Instant Hell Murder)"

Orochimaru blinked seeing Naruto glide slowly toward him. The thing was, his brain just processed it that way thanks to the phantasm because Naruto was already behind him. And he'd been dead a few seconds ago but his body hadn't figured it out yet. Orochimaru eventually dropped lifelessly before Naruto with his face stretched in a silent shout of pain.

Hiruzen sat perched still where Naruto left him and saw the entire sequence. It all happened in an instant but just like the phantasm seemingly making Naruto slowly approach someone, his latest technique did the same. Phantasms of Naruto striking Orochimaru could be seen and the number of blows were incalculable. There were so many blows. The Sandaime just saw his student drop before realizing, the Sannin wasn't going to move again.

The aged Kage began to make his way to Naruto who simply stood over Orochimaru. The closer Hiruzen got, the louder wheezing breaths could be heard coming from the Jinchuriki. He sounded like he could hardly breathe as Hiruzen placed a hand to his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" questioned Hiruzen noticing blood trailing from Naruto's nose. Naruto's breaths began to calm down as he took to wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve. Hiruzen allowed Naruto a moment before looking back at Orochimaru and seeing his pale skin had turned a sickly purple. _"The way he died? His skin changed color but physically, he isn't hurt. What did Naruto do to him?"_

"Thank you Jiji. I keep finding out the hard way that this body isn't ready for the full scope of techniques it can use." said Naruto finally able to control his breathing again. That technique was one of his most taxing and the most brutal to an adversary hit by it. "Hope you said goodbye. He won't ever be coming back."

"What did you do my boy? You hit him but I see no physical evidence. Only his skin."

"The Shun Goku Satsu isn't a technique that strikes at one physically." said Naruto looking down at Orochimaru. "It is a special power of my Rinnegan that allows me to attack one's soul."

Hiruzen's eyes widened at that explanation as he looked back down at Orochimaru. Naruto could attack souls? What a dangerous ability. You could fortify your body through rigorous training or medical enhancements. You could strengthen your mind to avoid interrogation and others tinkering with it. There was nothing one could do to ruggedize their soul. Which meant that technique was unquestionably a sure-fire kill.

"So all those strikes were-"

"-me battering around Orochimaru's soul until it was no more." confirmed Naruto looking down at the motionless Sannin. "The discoloration of his skin is a byproduct of the soul no longer housing the body. I destroyed his entirely and that's the last anyone will hear of him. This life or the one after."

Wait, Orochimaru was gone entirely? There wasn't even going to be an afterlife for him? Hiruzen wanted to say that was a bit harsh but, he couldn't. He knew what his ex-student had become. What he had done. If anything, that was too easy a punishment. Orochimaru should have burned in hell if it were up to Hiruzen.

But it wasn't up to him. He couldn't finish his student despite all the things he did because Orochimaru was still his student. Maybe if the fight lasted longer he'd find the willpower but that didn't happen. Naruto took such a thing off his hands since he himself couldn't pull the trigger. And Naruto eradicated the twisted man in a way he saw fit.

"I saw some of his subordinates' memories. That was a very vile man Jiji. I would have read his mind but I don't want to know of all the things he did. I'm sure they were disgusting." said Naruto as his Summoning made its way to him and Hiruzen. Naruto hopped atop its shoulder before looking at his Hokage. "I have some things to handle but I'll be by later to tell you all about what has happened to me. Think I'll keep this hat until then too. Because it will still be mine eventually Jiji. Never forget that, dattebayo."

Hiruzen forgot all about his Kage hat and noticed it still atop Naruto's head. Kid did look good in it and it made the old Kage smile.

"I'll be glad to give it to you some day." said Hiruzen before watching Naruto's summon fly him off into the sky.

Once Naruto got out of eyesight, Hiruzen noticed several Anbu reaching his position. The same Anbu forced to watch the fight thanks to the barrier earlier. Hiruzen wondered why they didn't spring into action when the barrier went down and he'd find out later that Naruto stalled them. All in effort to keep as many people as possible from finding out about his powers. He wasn't ready to show the world just yet.

"What is the status of the village?" questioned Hiruzen showing where his priority was at when the Masked shinobi arrived.

"Secure Hokage-sama. Jiraiya-sama is warding off any threats with help from others. Their main threat of a full Ichibi was thwarted by Uzumaki Naruto based on reports from several Genin. Without the Ichibi, expelling the enemy is going well." reported the tan cloaked Anbu as two black cloaked Anbu stood beside him. "Sunagakure has surrendered already. They found out their Kage was actually Orochimaru and ceased their actions." The Anbu then took notice of Orochimaru before looking up at Hiruzen. "Orochimaru is..."

"Dead. Yes. We have no time to waste though. Let us finish dealing with this invasion." said Hiruzen sharply getting his Anbu to nod before they all departed in Shunshins.

 _(One Week Later)_

With how bad the invasion could have been without Naruto's intervention in the Hokage's fight and stopping Gaara from using a full possession in the heart of Konoha, lives were still loss in the aftermath of the failed invasion. As such, a mass funeral was held with the lives of those lost being mourned and given their moments of silence.

Hiruzen gave the deceased a wonderful speech and even addressed the denizen in a way that somehow uplifted them in such a trying time. It was moments like these that reminded you this man had been the leader for over four decades. Despite all the newly hopeful faces, Hiruzen particularly paid attention to Naruto. He wasn't the only one still somber but he seemed the most affected.

Like Naruto promised, he returned that evening after defeating Orochimaru to tell him all about what'd happened to him. Hiruzen would like to think he took it in stride but he was sure he had a gobsmacked look on his face for the majority of it. It was truly an amazing thing that'd happened to him and you'd think, with all that power at his disposal, he'd be happy all the time since he was still the Naruto Hiruzen had known.

The Naruto he knew would somehow spin this melancholy moment into motivation. In a 'I'll get strong enough so this never happens again' kind of way. That wasn't the case though. Because in actuality, all that power was the problem.

 _"Just like during Hagoromo's life, I still can't save everyone..."_ thought Naruto with uncharacteristically dim eyes. The brightness they usually held wasn't there as Naruto considered himself a failure. _"What's the point to all this? What was the point of endowing me with these powers if I still can't keep everyone alive?"_

A conundrum Naruto could have solved. He had the power to keep everyone alive. But just not the ability. Gedo (Outer Path) was the seventh Path that lived outside the realm of life and death. With that path, Naruto could bring the dead back to life if he so chose. And unlike the Edo Tensei Orochimaru used, the reincarnated would truly be alive once more.

When he attempted to use it after leaving Hiruzen, he was met with resistance from his past self. Hagoromo was the original Rinnegan user so of course he'd also still be 'alive' within the Gedo's realm. Naruto told Hagoromo he wouldn't die from using such a jutsu, only severely weakened. Hagoromo shook his head and made him realize once again that he was Naruto. And Naruto wasn't Hagoromo. Not even close.

Hagoromo was a full adult and had the most powerful entity in the world within his body to fuel the chakra and life force for the Gedo's ability. That entity being the combination of all nine tailed beasts, the Jubi. Naruto was thirteen years old with barely over a month to adjust to his Rinnegan and new chakra. Naruto also only has one tailed beast within him.

Hagoromo could likely do such a thing and only be bedridden for some time. Naruto would undoubtedly perish from trying to bring back the Konoha shinobi and citizens who lost their lives with his current skill level and body composition. Thinking further, he likely wouldn't ever reach such a height.

Naruto pitied himself that day and with the funeral, all those feelings resurfaced seeing the amount of people who perished. He could have saved them. He should have been able to save them. But he failed. And now, some mother wouldn't have her kid come home. Some spouse wouldn't have their lover. A child would be orphaned. All because he-

"Naruto-kun."

Naruto blinked feeling a hand on his cheek. The hand was wet but that was because he had tears rolling down his face. Looking to his right, Naruto could see Ino looking at him concerned. Which was justified to some extent because he was balling hard.

"Are you okay?" questioned Ino softly as they stood beside each other during the funeral. The funeral was over and people were leaving but Naruto hadn't moved. Ino noticed and had been trying to get his attention the entire time. But he merely stood there crying. "Did you know one of the deceased?"

"...No no..I just..." started Naruto before stopping. Then he realized Ino was one of the two people who he told about his eyes and true potential. He didn't have to hide this from her. It'd probably be good to get it off his chest now that he thought about it. "I could have saved them."

"Don't think like that. I know you're strong now but-" Ino stopped speaking and blinked realizing they were now standing atop the Hokage monument again. She turned to see the phantasm of them moving and looked back to see Naruto's Rinnegan glowering at her. "I know about your..Rinnegan. But what do you mean you could save them? You're strong but not omnipresent Naruto-kun."

"Remember the Six Paths I showed you?" questioned Naruto as Ino nodded. "There's a seventh Path, Gedo (Outer Path), and it allows me several abilities. One being reviving the dead." informed Naruto getting Ino's eyes to widen. "I can revive anyone, be it right after their passing or decades and decades afterward. It's more strenuous the longer they have been dead and dependent on the strength of the person revived. But anyone I choose could be brought back."

Ino looked at Naruto in another light at that admission. Just hit after hit with this guy these days. He could revive the dead? What didn't this Rinnegan do? And now that she thought about it, there had to be a cost for such a technique. And he basically said it.

"Naruto-kun." said Ino noticing Naruto only had 6 tomoe in his Rinnegan. "When you mean strenuous, does that mean you could..."

"Yes, I could potentially kill myself." said Naruto finding no reason to hide such a thing. He didn't want to lie to Ino considering she was already thinking along those lines anyway. The glare he got brought a smile to his face though. _"She really does look like Hagoromo's lover. She used to glare at him the same way. It's crazy."_ thought Naruto wrapping Ino up in a hug before she could lay into him about using a jutsu that could kill him. "I know. I wouldn't allow myself to die in such a way. Time is the most dangerous aspect."

"Time?" questioned Ino, her head settled comfortably on Naruto's shoulder. Which was weird because wasn't Naruto shorter than her? This should be straining her neck but it wasn't. _"When did he get taller than me? He grew several inches taller than me in just a month..."_

"The longer the length of time since the revived's death, the life force required exponentiates. The strength of one is a factor but time is truly the decider in how difficult it'd be on my body and eyes to bring them back."

"So since the invasion just happened?"

"Yes, bringing back those wouldn't have killed me if I were full power. I'd be drained and likely bedridden for some time afterward but not dead." informed Naruto with a nod.

That put Ino somewhat at ease. She didn't like the idea of Naruto dying. They weren't really friends but he was her best friend/rival's teammate, they graduated together, and she knew all the great things he could do for Konoha. Maybe even the world. That Rinnegan of his was amazing. And speaking of Rinnegan.

"What happened to your Rinnegan?" asked Ino quietly, eyes closing at this point. _"He's still hugging me. Why am I okay with him hugging me?"_

"Hmm?"

"Your Rinnegan. It has 6 tomoe. It had 9 a week ago I thought."

"Oh that, I destroyed Orochimaru's soul." said Naruto feeling Ino nod into his shoulder. Seemed she was really comfortable. She barely reacted to him speak on destroying a soul. "Takes a lot out of me to do such a thing. Weakens my eyes afterwards. I should be back to normal a few days from now."

"Mmmm."

"Hey Ino-chan."

"Mmmm?"

"You're drooling on my shoulder." said Naruto getting Ino to pick her head up in embarrassment. Only to find out she hadn't been drooling at all. She glared at Naruto again to see him just smiling cheekily. "Oh, it's just too easy."

"Ugh, when will this end?" questioned Ino placing her head back on Naruto's shoulder. He was really warm and for some reason, this was extremely comfortable. Like it felt right. _"This could be addicting if I liked Naruto-kun. Heh, Hinata would lose her mind if she were me right now."_

"Well, you're not so crazy about me anymore since finding out most of what I can do. No longer out to prove to everyone I'm _Kami's Right Hand!_ " exclaimed Naruto getting a soft smile to appear on Ino's face. He could feel the girl's breathing lightening up. She was falling asleep in his arms. "So you know, I have to take what I can"

"Mmmm, I'm going to get you back for all this you know. And don't worry, I'm still exposing you some day soon." said Ino softly getting a smile to appear on Naruto's face.

"Heh, good luck with that."

With that, Naruto looked down to see Ino asleep. All that stalking him for the past month finally caught up to her. Vanishing in an Ashura Senku, Naruto stood in Ino's room. He tucked the sleeping girl into bed before smiling. Ino did make him feel better. For the second time even. He'd have to do something nice for her. Naruto would figure that out later because he remembered he had something else to attend to.

"Jigokudo (Naraka Path)"

A circle of black flames appeared around Naruto's feet before the King of Hell spawned and swallowed him whole.

* * *

 _(Unknown Location)_

A humanoid statue sat with only its torso exposed and its hands held up. Atop the statue's fingers stood 9 figures that were all holograms. On the right thumb stood a spiky haired man that opened his eyes to reveal his Rinnegan. The eyes looked just like Naruto's sans the tomoe. Those eyes turned to one hologram in particular that spoke testily.

"Come on with it. Why the fuck did you call us here? You interrupted my ritual."

The man's Rinnegan bore a hole into the man who spoke that unnerved him to some degree. Luckily, his outburst wouldn't be met negatively and would actually get the ball rolling.

"Zetsu has some information he would like to share with us." said the man looking to the statue's right pinky. "What do you have to report?"

"Sunagakure invaded Konoha. They were aided in their efforts by Orochimaru." informed the hologram known as Zetsu. "Despite the initial surprise of the attack, Konoha repelled the two forces without major damage."

"Is that all? This is a waste of time..." spoke a hologram that looked more like a hunchback.

"Orochimaru was killed during the invasion."

That bit of news got everyone's eyes to widen. The hologram with a ponytail and a bang of hair covering one eye was the first to speak.

"Heh, so that snake finally got what was coming for him, un." spoke the hologram with a grin. "I actually wanted to do it to be honest. Who was the one that got him?"

"Orochimaru faced the Sandaime Hokage."

"Ooo. Looks like your Kage can still get down Itachi-san." spoke a taller hologram with beady eyes and shark-like teeth.

"That is the most prevalent news but also, the Kyubi Jinchuriki managed to defeat an Ichibi Jinchuriki that'd undergone a full possession." continued Zetsu getting looks of interest at that.

From what they thought, the Kyubi Jinchuriki wasn't anything impressive. According to Zetsu, he'd failed his Genin Exam twice. Nothing was special about him other than the Bijuu within him but that really wasn't much to the people there. They could deal with a Bijuu. But it seemed Zetsu's data was outdated if he could take out a full Bijuu.

"Looks like we need to update our information on him then. Who is closest to the Land of Fire?"

"Me and Itachi-San are less than a day out."

"Good. Then you two will go and handle that. Capture him if possible." spoke the leader getting a nod. "If there isn't anything else..." continued the leader looking to Zetsu to get a shake of the head. "Then you're all dismissed. We will reconvene again soon."

The holograms slowly vanished one by one to go about their business. Business that involved Konoha's Jinchuriki at that.

 _(With Naruto)_

"Achoo!" sneezed Naruto shaking his head. Removing his face from his elbow, Naruto looked forward with a smile. "Someone must be thinking about me. Now then, where were we Tayuya and Kidomaru?" questioned Naruto looking at the two remaining captured Oto Shinobi. They'd been in the King of Hell since a week ago. Mostly because Naruto forgot about them but that was inconsequential. "I have no more use for either of you. I've killed Orochimaru and I plan to begin eradicating any trace of his existence from this world."

Tayuya, the red headed girl, and Kidomaru, a tanned skin boy with four extra arms, both looked shocked at that news. Orochimaru was dead? Because of this kid? They'd have asked how but their tongues were still being held by that red construct.

"And it seems I'll be starting with the two of you." said Naruto getting a panicked look from Tayuya as he placed a hand on her. Tayuya looked fearfully to see Naruto's Rinnegan glowing ominously. "Kyukon no Jutsu (Absorption Soul Technique)"

Tayuya watched Naruto pull back and saw a soul in his hand. She figured she was dead until seconds passed by and Naruto was simply looking at the soul attached to his hand. How was she still alive? Naruto had a soul in his hand that came from her body.

"Orochimaru placed a portion of himself within you through your Curse mark. I could feel his presence laying within. Killing you would solve it because it did with the other two of your teammates but you don't seem hellbent on destroying Konoha or harming innocents any longer." said Naruto tossing the duplicate Orochimaru soul deeper into the King of Hell. He then looked back at Tayuya with a glint in his eyes. "I wouldn't be wrong in that assumption would I?"

Tayuya shook her head no as Naruto closed his eyes. The girl found her tongue released as Naruto nodded his head and she dropped to the floor. Naruto then moved on to Kidomaru before doing the same to him. Removing Orochimaru's soul through the boy's curse mark, Naruto gave him a Rinnegan enhanced stare.

"What about you? If I free you, will you harm Konoha or innocents?" questioned Naruto getting another shake of the head. Naruto nodded but Kidomaru's tongue wasn't released like Tayuya's. "One can not lie to the King of Hell. If you do-" the tendril holding Kidomaru's tongue proceeded to yank it from his mouth. Effectively killing him. "-you'll lose your life."

Tayuya stared at the graphic death of her final teammate before Naruto turned back to her. She'd have said something or been at least afraid if she wasn't devilishly tired. Now that she thought about it, she didn't know how long she'd been down here but she hadn't had water or food. She didn't even remember going to sleep.

"How am...I still..alive?"

"You didn't lie to the King of Hell. And when trapped within here, your body enters a stasis. If you were wondering why you've survived a week without food, water, and rest." informed Naruto crouching down to look the slouching girl in the eyes. Tayuya found herself staring back at the 6 tomoe Rinnegan as Naruto smiled and helped her into a better sitting position. "What do you plan to do when I allow you to leave here?"

"What does it matter? I committed a crime against Konoha and numerous others. I'm going to prison." said Tayuya feeling her vitality returning. She didn't feel that way until Naruto touched her. "What did you do to me?"

"I gave you some chakra. King of Hell drains a lot of it." said Naruto removing his hands once he saw Tayuya sitting up by her own power. "And of course you'd go to prison. If I were to tell everyone in Konoha _everything_ about you."

That got Tayuya's eyes to widen as Naruto nodded.

"Like I said, I plan to eradicate Orochimaru's existence until it is no more. I could have done it without you but since you're still alive, I figured I'd ask for your assistance if you're up for it." said Naruto while placing a hand to his chin. "And if you help me. I can talk with Hokage-jiji about your situation. Not like anyone knows you're with Oto besides him, me, and maybe Jiraiya-sensei."

Tayuya stared at Naruto to only get a smile back. What kind of offer was that? It wasn't really much of one. Either go to jail for some inconceivable amount of time or help him destroy the very thing she once was apart of to gain freedom. Considering her team was gone and Orochimaru was dead according to Naruto, what did he expect her to say? It was likely why his smile grew bigger seeing her nod her consent to helping him.

"I was hoping you'd say that." said Naruto vanishing from the Hell Realm to leave her alone once more.

"Did I just go from one overpowered shithead's underling to another even more overpowered shithead's underling?" asked Tayuya aloud as she stood up. The moment she stood, she was swallowed by black fire. Which scared her until she felt wind in her face. "What the fuck?"

"You're not the underling of an overpowered shithead Tayuya-san. Think of yourself as a...hmm, I guess assistant for the time being." said Naruto getting the red headed girl to look sheepish. She didn't know he could hear her. "But welcome aboard Naruto Airlines! We're off to destroy Oto. At least the majority of it. Keep your hands and feet inside the summon at all times. And we hope you enjoy your trip."

Tayuya could feel the wind in her face and looked down to find herself thousands of feet above the ground. She noticed herself on the back of what appeared to be a tengu as Naruto took to laying down and closing his eyes.

"Now, as your overpowered shithead boss, I need you to change clothes. That Oto stuff is a no go." said Naruto handing a backpack to the girl. "There are some clothes in there. Change if you would. If you're the self conscious type, I promise to keep my eyes closed."

"You better and I'm not wearing Konoha things shithead."

"I'm not wearing Konoha things Tayuya-san." said Naruto getting Tayuya to notice his headband not there. It was just a black jacket, fishnet shirt, and black pants. No Konoha affiliation shown. "If I myself don't wear Konoha, and it happens to be my village, I wouldn't force you to. Because you aren't of Konoha. You're just the assistant of an overpowered shithead."

Tayuya looked at Naruto before accepting the backpack and shaking her head. Opening the bag, Tayuya looked at the clothes and shrugged. Shithead had good taste because these weren't half bad or far off from what she would actually pick to wear. Tayuya began to take her tunic off before looking down at Naruto. Seeing his eyes still closed, Tayuya quickly changed. He wouldn't be getting some free show from her.

 _"Hmm. Oto girl looks pretty good."_ thought Naruto keeping his promise of not opening _his_ eyes. Too bad Tayuya didn't know Naruto could see clearly through the eyes of his summoning which had one eye looking at her. Naruto would never think to peep on a girl but Naruto wasn't just Naruto. Hagoromo was in here too somewhat and that side prevailed in this moment to judge the ex-Oto kunoichi. _"Really good. And such an interesting birth mark..."_

Naruto and Tayuya soared through the air en route to their first destination. He didn't have Orochimaru's Memories to go off of but his subordinate, Sakon, had plenty of locations for him. And Naruto would be going to each one before wiping it off the face of the Earth.

 _(One Day Later)_

"Congratulations to all of you. Even if you did not receive the promotion to Chunin, you all performed admirably during the invasion and perhaps a field promotion may come sooner than the next Exams." said Hiruzen looking at the Genin from the exams. Only eleven of them were there because Naruto asked for a small sabbatical. _"He was promoted. Along with Shikamaru. I'd give Naruto-kun Jonin because he's strong enough but I have to be sure that strength comes with leadership qualities."_

Hiruzen watched the Genin teams all pile out of his office before smiling. He turned his head to the window to see Jiraiya appear the moment he did.

"You're still here Jiraiya? I would have figured you would be gone by now."

"I would have but I figured I'd stay for a bit."

"Oh? Is that so."

"Yeah, I do need to see Naruto though. Something I need to tell him." said Jiraiya getting a raised eyebrow from Hiruzen. "The Akatsuki. I think it's time I told him. Heh, he'll probably freak out when I do."

 _"I doubt that."_ thought Hiruzen smiling internally. Jiraiya had no clue. "So you plan to find Naruto-kun? Finally going to take the boy on as an apprentice perhaps?"

"Yeah, why not. Most of my schedule freed up with Roachy's death." said Jiraiya with a smile at Hiruzen. "You finally got the balls to do it huh? You gotta tell me how you did it. Guy's body looks like you poisoned him or something. I bet that was awesome."

"I will say that it was awesome. The most impressive thing I've ever seen in my life." said Hiruzen with a nod getting Jiraiya to grin widely. Oh it was about to get juicy. "I didn't kill Orochimaru."

"...What?" clearly not what Jiraiya thought he'd hear.

"I didn't kill Orochimaru."

"I'm not following you here. You were the one facing him."

"I was."

"Then how did he-what's that?" questioned Jiraiya seeing Hiruzen hand him a small black triangle. Whatever metal this was was definitely quality as Jiraiya nodded. "Is this what killed him?"

"Its owner did. Place chakra in it." said Hiruzen getting Jiraiya to shrug. He had no reason not to. Not like Hiruzen was the type to prank someone anyway. "I convinced him to tell you. So be sure to thank him for letting you in and tell him I said hi."

"Let who know-" A poof of smoke covered Jiraiya that concealed his disappearance.

 _(Earlier- With Naruto and Tayuya)_

"Hmm, so this is Orochimaru's Northern hideout?" questioned Naruto looking to Tayuya. The girl gave him a nod before Naruto sighed. "Very hostile environment wouldn't you say?"

"You have no idea shithead." said Tayuya while blocking a claw with her flute. In front of them were gray colored people with abnormal body modifications. "These are all reject copies of this guy named Jūgo. Everything here is basically this. A fucking mindless beast."

"I know, somewhat. I have Sakon's memories. But is there really nothing of note here?" questioned Naruto stabbing a black rod through the chest of an approaching 'beast'.

"Not really shithead. This place sucks. Everyone here has a curse mark and are shitty throwaways. Other than the original but he's even more insane." confirmed Tayuya launching her 'beast' away with a grunt.

"Hmm, of course he is." said Naruto lifting a hand up. "Raiton: Sonzai Satsugai (Lightning Style: Omnicide)"

Tayuya heard powerful thunderclaps and looked over to see literal lightning bolts snapping from Naruto's palm. The bolts crackled across the landscape wiping out hordes of the Curse Mark 'rejects' with ease. It was like getting hit by an actual lightning bolt and then three to five more in rapid succession with how many were sparking out of his palm.

 _"Holy shit..."_ thought Tayuya watching the casual display of power. The jutsu was altering the landscape and he looked like he was barely trying. _"That could wipe out an army if he so chose."_

"Nothing here worth anything right?" questioned Naruto getting another nod from Tayuya. Naruto nodded back before ending his jutsu. "Then it's time to leave. Doton: Bunkatsu Shitaji (Earth Style: Splitting Foundation)" Tayuya watched the island split in two almost instantly after Naruto punched it hard. Naruto stood and tapped her shoulder to teleport them both back atop his Tengu before they fell through the new split. "No need to dilly dally then. Suiton: Hashoku (Water Style: Wave Erosion)"

From the split Naruto created, a massive gush of water spewed out of it that reached high into the air. The water rose a couple hundred feet before gravity took hold and it all fell back to the earth. Tayuya didn't have to look down to know that anything still on that island was dead the moment the mass of water landed.

"You are seriously scary shithead." commented Tayuya looking down finally to see nothing but water.

"Heh, even when I'm on your side?"

"Especially then. Cause you get to see all the ridiculous shit you can do and live to know someone's walking around capable of said ridiculous shit." said Tayuya getting Naruto to agree with her when she put it that way..

"I never thought about it that way. I guess that would make me scary." said Naruto looking down to see the entire island gone. It was apart of the ocean now and would stay that way forever. Naruto then perked up feeling a familiar chakra. "Took him long enough. Chikushodo (Animal Path)"

"-know what sensei?" questioned Jiraiya before blinking. He could see nothing but sky and was confused immensely. That was until he looked down and saw a red headed girl. "Uhh..hello?"

"Sup goofy looking shithead. Shithead boss has been waiting for you." said Tayuya ignoring Jiraiya to begin playing small tunes from her flute.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that greeting. Clearly she didn't have the answers for why he was suddenly here or if she did, she didn't seem like she'd give them to him anyway. Turning the other way, Jiraiya gasped seeing the Rinnegan staring back at him.

"Hey Jiraiya-sensei. Take a seat, I got a story to tell." said Naruto getting the gobsmacked man to do so before he began. "Now where to start. Where to start..."

Jiraiya just sat wide eyed and shocked as Naruto gave him the rundown on his newfound powers. The Akatsuki thing all but forgotten at this point.

 _(Few days later - Konoha Hospital)_

"So, this is what Akatsuki can do?"

"Basically. This is all Uchiha Itachi though." informed Jiraiya as he answered Naruto's question. The two stood in the hospital as they overlooked two bedridden shinobi, Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke. "He's your teammate's older brother who wiped out the entire Uchiha Clan in one night."

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke kind of told me. And this guy is after me?"

"Him and at least six more. All of which are on par with another."

"Well, that's just fun." said Naruto with a sigh. He just kept looking at Kakashi and Sasuke before feeling a stare. Turning to it, Naruto saw Jiraiya giving him an expectant look. "What?"

"Well, aren't you're going to...magic fix them or something." said Jiraiya before getting close and pointing at his eyes. " _Rinnegan_ magic fix em."

"It's not magic. And I can't." said Naruto getting Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow. "I can't do everything Ero-sensei. Physically, I could help but from what it looks like, that's mental. I can't fix that."

"...yet?"

"Sure, let's go with that." said Naruto looking back at the two. "Is that why jiji called us back before we were done? He thought I could help?"

"Pretty much kid. Kakashi's really important to the village so we really need him back up soon." said Jiraiya before turning to Sasuke. "And that's a kid. Tortured by his predicament only to get it thrown in his face again by the very one who put him in it." continued Jiraiya before clapping. "Road trip time then!"

"We just came off a road trip Ero-sensei."

"Yeah, so. Doesn't mean I can't be hype for another one. Especially considering who we're going to get." said Jiraiya patting Naruto on the head. "You're coming with me. And side note, where did this pervy sensei thing come from."

"You're my sensei. And you're a pervert. Ero. Sensei. Works well."

"What? Name one perverted thing I've done in front of you." said Jiraiya getting a deadpan stare back from Naruto. A nurse walked in before Naruto could answer that Jiraiya looked at. _"Hello. Nurse babe in the building-"_

"Ero. Sensei."

Jiraiya looked down at Naruto to see him smirking. Jiraiya looked back at the nurse he was ogling at before looking back at Naruto.

"Oh come on kid. That's not even fair pipsqueak...wait" started then stopped Jiraiya before really looking at Naruto. "Have you grown?"

"Rikudo's Chakra melded with my chakra network and _Rinnegan Magic_ made my body adapt to the power it now houses."

"So you grew?"

"And growing still."

"Neat." said Jiraiya before turning his attention back to the nurse. She saw him and smiled before walking out. Jiraiya's eyes panned low to admire the woman's physique. "Road trip might need a small delay while I take-"

"Ero. Sensei. Told you it works well."

"..." Jiraiya just face fell as Naruto smirked. Jiraiya shook his head before grabbing Naruto's Head with one palm and walking out with the smaller shinobi. "Let's just go..."

 _(One day later)_

"Tanzaku Gai. Hmm, why here Ero-sensei?"

"Gambling town." replied Jiraiya coolly while looking at the bustling town. "The person we're looking for is an addict. A good starting point if anything I'd say."

"Hmm, any description of her you got?"

"106 centimeters."

"...what? She's only 3 and a half feet tall?" questioned Naruto getting a shake of the head from Jiraiya.

"106 centimeters gaki." said Jiraiya with a lecherous grin on his face. He brought his hands up almost like he was cupping an imaginary chest. "106 centimeters kid."

"No way. That's like...what? You're lying." said Naruto with rosy cheeks imagining such a thing.

"She was my teammate kiddo. Trust me. If anyone knows, it is me."

"Teammate? Like the third Sannin?"

"Yep. We're looking for Tsunade-hime."

"Wow. I might meet all three Sannin in the same year. Neat." said Naruto with a smile before stopping. Jiraiya noticed this as Naruto closed his eyes. "She got chakra like you and Orochimaru?"

"Hmm, I'd say more."

"Mhmm..." said Naruto as he stood for a few seconds. Naruto's eyes then snapped open before he nodded his head. "Found her. I think."

"Found her? She's here? Really?"

"Well yeah. There isn't many people in the world with stronger chakra than you Ero-sensei. And there's one on the other end of this town." said Naruto.

"Well let's go say hi then."

"Sure." said Naruto eyes flashing to his Rinnegan before they turned back. Only they were now sitting in a booth right across from a blonde woman with pigtails and a short haired woman holding a pig. "Hi." The two women before Naruto both freaked out for a second at his being there. Which made sense because he literally wasn't there the instant beforehand. Naruto's eyes panned to the blonde woman's chest where he rose an eyebrow. _"Heh, Ero-sensei wasn't Lying. 106 centimeters."_

The blonde woman, clearly Tsunade seeing how she was the chakra Naruto felt, had a saucer in her hand with sake in it. Looking at Naruto before turning to her saucer, Tsunade just shrugged before downing it. Allowing the burn to subside, she opened her brown eyes to the equally confused white haired man before her.

"So...Jiraiya...two questions. Why are you here?" questioned Tsunade before pointing at Naruto. "And who's the kid who can't keep his eyes off my chest."

"Heh...real subtle entrance there kid..." said Jiraiya lowly while sheepishly laughing to weakly hide his nerves. Jiraiya coughed in his hand seeing the unamused look in Tsunade's half lidded gaze before getting to business. "Hey hime, you look good as ever. Konoha needs your help."

Tsunade just rose an eyebrow at that. Konoha needed her help? Hmm, well she could humor this at least. She still had alcohol to finish anyway and why not? She could use a good laugh at whatever that bastard of a village wanted from her.

* * *

 **Yurp. Back with more sometime later.**

 **-Hamp**


	4. Samsara Jinchuriki?

**Hey, I'm back. Chapter Four. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Tis life apparently. I do own debt. So much debt that if you took Kishimoto's bank account gains from _Naruto_ and put a negative sign before it, my debt would likely match it. So, just another reason I believe I should own the series. The purely monetary reason it is.

Don't judge my greed unless Sallie Mae comes for your greenbacks too...and if that's the case, shouldn't you be vying for money just the same as I? You probably are and because of that, you're invited to my 'Scheme Kishimoto Out of His Money' or 'S.K.O.O.H.M' (name change in the works) weekly meetings from this point forward. See you at 7 pm PST tonight. Free refreshments will be provided.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Samsara Jinchuriki?**

"Hime...I don't think this is such a good idea," spoke Jiraiya timidly to the blonde-haired woman angrily stomping her way out of the restaurant they were in.

"You should have told that to your brat before he called me a disappointment..." huffed Tsunade as she quickly made her way outside. "Lil brat doesn't even know who I am."

"I think he... no wait, I know he knows who you are," informed Jiraiya trying to halt Tsunade from going outside and meeting his most recent student. This was a fight she really didn't want to start. "You just don't know who he _really_ is and that's why I worry. I don't even think I could beat-"

"Shut up Jiraiya. He's a kid. A stupid one at that who's about to learn a hard lesson," said Tsunade walking outside to see Naruto casually standing there waiting for her. "If you want to apologize, you can. Won't stop this beatdown."

"I wasn't out to fight you lady but you were wasting mine and Ero-sensei's time," said Naruto with narrowed blue eyes. "We have other options outside of you."

Tsunade was taken aback slightly by the look in Naruto's eyes. For some reason, it felt like his glare could paralyze her if she wasn't as strong as she is. Despite that line of thinking at first, Tsunade disregarded it completely and just smirked before holding up one finger.

"Heh, you're arrogant...not really my cup of tea. I'll probably only need one finger to beat someone like you," said Tsunade not seeing Jiraiya smack his face at such a thing. The irony of calling Naruto arrogant and then handicapping herself to a single finger flew right over the medic's head as she nodded. Tsunade made a come-hither motion with that finger as she looked at Naruto. "I think I will. Come and learn your lesson boy."

"Sensei..." said Naruto looking at Jiraiya.

"No."

"...Ero-sensei. She's asking for it. I won't even-"

"No...kid. She might be a pain sometimes, but she's still my teammate," said Jiraiya watching Naruto deflate.

There was no way in hell he was going to let Naruto use any of his freakishly powerful Rinnegan abilities. He'd witnessed Naruto sack several Oto Hideouts with no effort after the kid summoned him and told him about his Rinnegan. The kid dishearteningly stated he didn't even get to show the most dangerous aspect of his eyes before Hiruzen called them back because of the Akatsuki attack.

Tsunade, bless her soul, was dubbed 'the strongest woman' in the world but Jiraiya himself could see the rust on her. She would be no challenge to Naruto, even without his Rinnegan. So no, no Rinnegan for Naruto even though he'd probably bring it out anyway just to firmly show up his teammate.

"If you don't come to me kid, I'm coming to you. And that's the last thing you would want," said Tsunade smirk still on her face. Jiraiya shook his head again and put his hands over his face as Shizune looked at him with a curious gaze. Naruto was a newly promoted chunin, Tsunade was... Tsunade. Shizune saw no other outcome but her master's victory as did Tsunade who kept speaking. "If you let me start this fight, I promise it will be over in an instant-"

"-Yeah yeah." cut off Naruto now right in front of Tsunade.

The blonde woman was surprised at the speed and saw his fist headed straight for her chin. Holding on to her promise, Tsunade simply moved one finger in front of his fist stopping it easily. Naruto's eyebrow rose at the casual way she stopped his punch before nodding.

"Your chakra control is that fine-tuned you can augment your strength to absurd levels," spoke Naruto actually impressed at that. The dedication to one's chakra control to such a degree. He could see why she was so lauded just off that ability alone. "Still though..."

Five Narutos phased into existence getting Tsunade's eyes to widen. There was no hand seal, no poof of smoke, or any indication Naruto was using a jutsu. It felt like the clones just appeared before kicking the Sannin in the air. Tsunade cringed at the perfectly timed kicks that sent her a few dozen feet in the air.

 _"His chakra control...he can use that high level of a jutsu with no hand seal?!"_ thought Tsunade frantically shifting her body in the air to dodge the five clone Narutos who jumped to meet her. She landed as ten more Narutos spawned around her ready to continue. Tsunade wasn't allowing that because those kicks stung. "As if I'd let that happen again!"

Tsunade rose her finger before sharply dropping and thrusting it in the ground. The ground exploded in a spiderweb crack that upturned large pieces of earth that shook the Earth violently. The gaggle of Narutos around and the ones coming back down to land were dispelled at the rather vulgar display of power.

Tsunade looked up as dust clouded the area from her attack. The clone Narutos were gone as the original stood looking at her like he had been since the earlier shadow clones. Though Tsunade noticed that the dust in the air was blowing toward her gently. Naruto was using a low powered wind tunnel that practically outlined her.

 _"What is the point of this small breeze?"_ thought Tsunade unaffected by the small wind flowing through the area. All he did was clear the air of the dust and debris. Outside of that, he wasn't doing anything. _"Wait, is his chest puffed out?"_

"Katon: Goen (Fire Style: Great Flame)"

Naruto exhaled and expelled a blast of lava-hot fire. Thanks to the wind tunnel he'd created, Naruto's flames were concentrated and kept from spreading out like normal to avoid damaging the buildings lining the street they were on. He wasn't Tsunade, Naruto refused to do collateral damage when facing someone unless necessary.

 _"What the hell is this kid?"_ thought Tsunade ducking down and picking up a piece of Earth to protect herself. She began to sweat lightly at the heat flowing around the piece of Earth that shielded her. She felt like she was cooking in a furnace as she began to sweat from the heat. _"Someone his age shouldn't be capable of ninjutsu like this."_

"It's over..."

Tsunade's eyes widened and she turned behind her to see Naruto standing there even as his fire jutsu still blazed on. He was avoiding it thanks to the rock she put up as he had his arms folded. Tsunade was prepped to defend as best she could until she felt herself sink. Tsunade saw her legs, up to her knees, were firmly locked into the ground before a series of spears rose that stuck her torso in place awkwardly.

"As I said, there are other ways to help my teammates than you," said Naruto with the same cold eyes he had at the beginning. Arms still crossed, Naruto looked down upon the very gifted medic-nin. His eyes softened a bit as he spoke some more. "Ero-sensei said it, I know about you. It sucks that your lover and baby brother died fighting for Konoha. I can't understand the pain you went through..." continued Naruto as his eyes hardened again. "But someone else's lover, baby brother, father, mother, sister, et cetera died in the wake of your absence and forfeiture on life as a kunoichi. You could have possibly saved them and many more to keep someone else from the same heartbreak you feel. But you didn't and won't...that's why I said you're a disappointment. You could do so much where others can't and wish they could..."

Tsunade sat wide-eyed and forcibly stuck listening to the words of the Jinchuriki. He was 13 yet speaking like he'd lived a life full of strife. Heh, if only she knew that he actually had in a way.

Tsunade didn't know and even if she did, probably wouldn't care anyway. Her pain was unique to her and who was he to tell her how to go about dealing with it. And that was why she was a disappointment to this brat, really? Because she wouldn't fix every little boo-boo that befalls or befell someone from her grandfather's village? Give her a break.

"Oi! You damned whiskered brat," said Tsunade getting Naruto to raise an eyebrow. The earthly prison Naruto trapped her in began to crack slightly as the look on the sannin's face shifted to one of anger. "It's somehow my fault that Sarutobi didn't listen to me when I said we needed more medics? It's somehow my fault there is no one else in the entire world that can help your hurt friends beside me? Huh?! It's my fault I wasn't good enough to save my own family with my power and now when someone else faces my reality, I'm supposed to help them when no one was there to help me?"

Naruto watched the woman forcibly tear through his jutsu while she spoke and stand to look at him with furious brown eyes. Tsunade didn't wait long for an answer when she saw the same brutally cold eyes still looking at her. She kept her earlier promise despite her anger-fueled attack as she merely lead with her pointer finger. A pointer finger that could level a building it was brimming with so much chakra.

"Sadly, yes. You can't help you were endowed with such great power," spoke Naruto shifting his head just left of Tsunade's finger before his Rinnegan shifted on. A sharp and crisp left-right of chakra fueled fingers to the stomach dropped Tsunade to her knees, parallel with Naruto. "I believe those endowed with great power shouldn't run from moments where they can do good in this troublesome world." continued Naruto before lashing out with an elbow to Tsunade's temple. He stopped but an inch from leveling the legendary medic as her pigtails blew from the force gathered. The elbow wouldn't level a building but it would have certainly put Tsunade clearly through the building next to them. "I promise you I won't so that one day I can save someone's loved one someday. Because if everyone thought like you, no one would save anyone. You have to break the cycle to keep it from repeating...don't ya think. It's what I think."

 _"Heh, nice words kid..."_ thought Jiraiya with a smile as Shizune stood mouth wide at her master getting bested by a kid. _"Finish strong there brat, you got her on the ropes."_

Tsunade just stared forward, hand on her stomach, and didn't move for a few seconds after hearing that. The pain in her abdomen was all but forgotten as she listened to the words of the other blonde beside her. The tomoe in his Rinnegan began to orbit his pupil as Naruto smiled cheekily and rose both arms to the sky and balled both fists.

"For my dream is to become Hokage. And I'd gladly give my life if it meant saving someone's loved one or the entire village," spoke Naruto bringing his arms down and nodding to affirm it to himself. "This I promise, dattebayo."

And like that, Tsunade had two memories flash through her head. The first of her younger brother, Nawaki, and the second of her lover, Dan. The two very important people in her life who died too early that both shared Naruto's dream. She could see the two of them smiling at her and right between them stood Naruto. A tear fell down Tsunade's eye and not because of the powerful blows she took. Only due to the thoughts running through her head as Naruto kneeled next to her and tapped her stomach twice.

"Sorry about the last hits. They'll hurt a bit more since I hit two chakra gates and closed them," said Naruto reopening the two gates with pulses of chakra. "You should start to feel your chakra flow naturally once again."

Tsunade turned her teary eyes to Naruto to see rather daunting purple ones in place of his blue ones. Somehow, despite the emotionless appearance of the eyes, Naruto managed to shine some warmth through them as he matched the medic's gaze. Tsunade was physically rusty but mentally, she retained knowledge just as well as she did in her prime. She knew exactly what she was looking at.

 _"The...Rinnegan..."_ thought Tsunade staring at the mythological eyes with their nine tomoe each.

Naruto probably only showed her them to one, drive home his point about being endowed with great power and choosing to do the right thing with it like he just verbally promised. And two, to make her feel better about the loss she just took. She really needed the latter because losing to a fresh chunin would hurt her reputation and pride tremendously. She needed to train again because she wouldn't go for that next time.

So fascinated about the eyes, Tsunade nearly missed what was behind Naruto as her eyes widened.

"Naruto! Look out!"

 _"What! I was snuck up on?!"_ thought Naruto in a panic turning his eyes behind him to see a deadly volley of shuriken flying his way. Choosing to dodge with Tsunade, Naruto froze catching something very alarming thanks to his visual prowess. _"There's shuriken in the shadows of these ones...no escape."_

"Seiatsu (Subjugating Pressure)" spoke Naruto as a gravity wall formed around him and Tsunade that deflected the shuriken. Naruto quickly moved from behind Tsunade, who impressively managed to get him out of harm's way, before he looked up at the red eyes of the man behind the shuriken. "Uchiha Itachi..."

"Hello Naruto-kun..." spoke Itachi monotonously wondering how his shuriken were stopped. Itachi considered a wind jutsu of some sort before seeing the violet eyes of Naruto looking back at him. _"Those eyes..."_

"This is over," said Naruto teleporting behind Itachi. A phantasm of Naruto could be seen ghosting toward the Akatsuki member as Naruto's eyes widened in shock a bit too late. He didn't even notice that he was under a-"Genjutsu, that fast? I didn't even notice..."

The Itachi before Naruto dissolved in a flock of crows that got Naruto to look up amazed at the speed. He must have gotten him when they first met eyes for the second they did before Naruto teleported behind him. Then, he had the foresight to not pass go and collect $200 by hightailing it out of there immediately because Naruto couldn't feel him anymore. Snuck up on him and threw an inescapable volley of shuriken, ensnared him in a genjutsu, and managed to actually leave without Naruto being able to follow.

"He's good...really good," said Naruto with a small smile. "I'll be better prepared next time. The same as you Akatsuki will be I'm sure..."

 _(With Itachi)_

"Itachi, what the hell happened?" questioned a rather large man that ran beside Itachi with blue skin. He had the same beady eyes of the hologram that spoke to Itachi less than a week ago. "You said you were going to start the attack and I'd come in later but then you changed your mind? Tsunade and Jiraiya couldn't have handled the both of us, I know that."

"You are right. We likely could best Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama in battle."

"So why didn't we? Pipsqueak would have been easy pickings afterward."

"Naruto-kun is the sole reason we're fleeing Kisame," said Itachi saying pipsqueak's name unlike his partner, Kisame, as they continued their hasty retreat. Sensing his partner's next question, Itachi answered it before he could ask. "Naruto-kun's bijuu isn't the problem, he has the Rinnegan."

Kisame's eyes widened at that bit of information which quickly put him on board with Itachi's idea to leave. That ended the discussion right there. The Kyubi Jinchuriki somehow has the same eyes as the leader of Akatsuki? Heh, boy it was going to be fun sharing that with the gang.

"You think we could have taken him?" questioned Kisame after a moment

"Whether we could take him or not remains unknown," spoke Itachi still sprinting away. Naruto was still young and definitely not as strong as he could be given time to grow. Then was probably their best chance to beat Naruto in battle except for his current entourage. "Our main objective was to update our information on him, capture if possible. I didn't want to run the risk of facing two of the three Sannin and a Jinchuriki with the Rinnegan. Capturing him at that time didn't seem possible."

"Yeah, you're probably right," spoke Kisame before a shark-like grin crossed his face. "Just hope we can catch him alone soon. I've always wanted to really see what the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths could do."

"No...you don't."

The shark-man looked at the Uchiha for a brief moment and really thought about it. Itachi was someone he knew that if he faced, he'd likely not come out of the battle alive. And for Itachi to say that about someone else, really put it in perspective. It wasn't fear that he could feel come from Itachi, just respect. A healthy amount of respect.

 _"I should probably listen to the guy. He knows more about special eyes than I do..."_

And with that thought, the two of them ran in silence until they could reach an area to contact their organization. Something troubling had occurred.

* * *

 _(One Day Later - With Naruto)_

Walking along the path back to Konoha with Tsunade and Shizune in tow, Naruto and Jiraiya walked next to each other while a repeated 'thwap' could be heard. The cause of that 'thwap' being Jiraiya smacking Naruto across the head with a rolled up newspaper every few yards. Naruto had an angry look as his head rocked with each blow.

"What did I say..." questioned Jiraiya walking with his eyes closed

"No Rinnegan" answered Naruto walking beside the Sannin

"And what did you do..."

"Used Rinnegan"

 **THWAP**

"And guess what happened..."

"Akatsuki saw it"

"And why is that bad..."

"They'll prepare"

 **THWAP**

"What did I say..."

"No Rinnegan"

"And what did you do..."

"Used Rinnegan," said Naruto again before his Rinnegan came to life and he halted Jiraiya's next smack with his gravity powers. Turning his eyes to his sensei, the tomoe within them spun dangerously. "Hit me again and I'm ripping your soul out of your body and keeping it in the King of Hell until we get back home..."

"..." Jiraiya rose an eyebrow and opened his eyes at his student's threat. "You can't do that...can you?"

"Try to hit me again and find out."

Jiraiya kept looking at Naruto for several more steps before shrugging. Even though he believed Naruto could probably do something like that, he still felt the need to call the boy's bluff. Village destroying ninjutsu? Sure, Jiraiya had seen it. Ripping out souls? Pfft, no way the kid could do it until proven. And Jiraiya wanted proof. Thus, the newspaper descended and smacked the boy for the twentieth time in the past five minutes.

 **THWAP**

"That's it!" shouted Naruto slapping a palm to Jiraiya before making good on his promise and ripping the man's soul out. The King of Hell rose beside the angry Jinchuriki before he casually tossed the soul inside its mouth. "Chikushodo (Animal Path)" said Naruto as a sealing array appeared underneath the falling husk that was Jiraiya's soulless body. A barely larger than human-sized turtle appeared that had the head of a lion was summoned that caught the man before continuing walking with Naruto. Naruto turned his Rinnegan off before turning to the other two walking with him. "So, what were we talking about before Ero-sensei did that... oh yeah, your pet pig's name is tonton huh?"

Naruto realized that Tsunade and Shizune had stopped walking only after he finished speaking. The two stood with very wide eyes as Naruto looked at them confused. Why did they stop? He couldn't feel anything around them that could cause such a thing.

"Did you...did you just..." started then stopped Tsunade twice, shakily pointing a finger at the turtle carrying Jiraiya which hadn't stopped walking toward Konoha.

 _"Hmm, maybe that was a bit overboard..."_ thought Naruto with a sigh. He thought maybe warning Jiraiya would make what he did less shocking but, he'd literally took a man's soul out. Couldn't just carry on a normal conversation after that. "Meifu no O (King of Hell)" the head of hell's king rose once more before it looked at the husk of Jiraiya and spit his soul back in his body. Jiraiya awoke with a jolt before the King of Hell descended again and Naruto sighed. "I shouldn't abuse my powers...I'm sorry."

Jiraiya was touching at his body, making sure he was actually alive, as he felt like he'd died for eternity but no time at all. It was a weird way to explain it but while he felt he'd been gone forever, he somehow also felt he hadn't left at all. Jiraiya turned his eyes first to the lion-turtle he was riding on, then to the two wide-eyed medics that had been walking with them since Tsunade's and Naruto's fight with the former agreeing to help, and lastly landed on his student who stared at him with a 'sorry' written on his face. Jiraiya coughed before standing and walking over to Naruto.

"Kid, you're amazing...you know that? Seriously, that's the craziest thing I've ever felt or seen," spoke Jiraiya earnestly standing in front of Naruto getting the chunin to beam at the compliment. The man smiled too before smacking him once more with his rolled up newspaper sending his young charge out of sight through a tree. "YOU EVER RIP MY SOUL OUT AGAIN I'LL KICK YOUR LITTLE ASS! YA HEAR ME BRAT!"

The moment Naruto was smacked out of sight, his summoning growled angrily before launching a blast of some red substance at the sannin. Jiraiya avoided the attack and looked to see that it was red clay. Weird but Jiraiya didn't care as his hair grew before wrapping up the weird turtle-lion hybrid. Crunching it, the animal snarled before dispelling as Jiraiya's hair returned to normal. Then the forest exploded.

"Stop hitting me!" shouted Naruto in a twenty-foot circumference of bare land having angrily used his gravity powers to clear a path. Naruto's tomoe were spinning dangerously as he looked at Jiraiya. "I've already beat two of you three, it was only a matter of time I faced the third Sannin."

"Bring it on ya brat! Rinnegan or not, you're still decades too young to beat me"

Tsunade and Shizune both stood out of harm's way as the student and teacher had a go at it. Jiraiya was losing clearly, Naruto was way too strong even in their half-hearted fight. But the elder man's will was strong as he continued getting in smacks atop Naruto's head with his newspaper any time he could. Each time he managed to do so, Naruto hit him with a different element. It was simply marveling what Naruto could do but in this pissing contest, it only served to bore Tsunade and Shizune.

"I'm not healing you if you're hurt too badly..." spoke Tsunade as Shizune nodded to confirm she felt the same way getting the two to look at them.

"Ha! You'll have to heal up like normal after this ass-whipping kid!" shouted Jiraiya, smacking Naruto in the head again during the lull in action to only get blasted away with a gravity attack.

"I was talking about you idiot..." said Tsunade watching Jiraiya jump back and resume his tussle with his student. A tussle that literally turned into Jiraiya grabbing the smaller boy and repeatedly smacking him in the head despite the taser shocks he was getting in return. "Should we just keep going to Konoha? This doesn't look like it'll end any time soon."

"Yes Tsunade-sama, we should get going. Hokage-sama's payment might be voided if the two we're supposed to help come to before we get there," replied Shizune shaking her head at the two fighting. "Only an hour out from Konoha too. Boys will be boys."

And with that, the two medics walked pass the scuffle and continued on their way to the leaf village. Once the two were out of sight, Jiraiya and Naruto's fight came to an end with Jiraiya, horribly singed and roughed up, holding up Naruto, sporting only a knot on the back of his head from the newspaper.

"Heh, seems like they forgot about the whole soul ripping thing..."

"Yeah, that's good at least. Would have sucked to explain," said Naruto getting set down by Jiraiya. "They'll still probably ask but I'd rather answer in Konoha and not still on this damn road. I miss my bed. More importantly, Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke really need their help."

"Agreed..." nodded Jiraiya before looking back at Naruto. "Any way you can send me back in that thing. No ass-whipping will come. I saw a war babe I beat and killed that was giving me the look and I'd like to see what that was about if you catch my drift."

"What?"

"Send me back to that hell thingy...I know you heard me."

"I did, I hoped you were just kidding," informed Naruto before seeing Jiraiya was dead serious. He was willingly wanting to go to Hell? Something was wrong with his sensei. "No, why would you want to go back there? It's basically purgatory..."

"I just told you why dumbass! War babe was giving me the _loo~k_ " repeated Jiraiya getting Naruto to frown and shake his head no.

Jiraiya dropped his shoulders in defeat as Naruto continued walking. He wouldn't get to see the beauty once more. Such a shame as the Sannin looked at the newspaper in his hand and then to the knot on Naruto's head. A sly grin grew on the man's face as he cocked back once more.

 **THWAP**

"That's it!"

And thus, Jiraiya was once again sent to 'Hell' by his young charge. This time, happily for the most part as Naruto grumbled lowly to himself and carried the soulless body of the sannin all the way back to Konoha.

"Wait...why am I walking"

And with that thought, Naruto vanished the short distance back home in an Ashura Senku.

* * *

 _(Unknown Location)_

It was quiet. Much too quiet for as many people that stood in the same room with eccentric personalities. The Akatsuki had all assembled and thanks to Itachi's update, the organization was dead silent as they contemplated his information.

The Kyubi Jinchuriki had the Rinnegan. Already the most powerful of the Bijuu rested within the boy and now he had the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. The leader of Akatsuki, Pain, stood in his hologram form like the rest of Akatsuki outside of two people with his own Rinnegan shining in the dim meeting place.

"THE FUCKING KYUBI HAS THE RINNEGAN! WHAT THE FUCK!"

Pain closed his eyes annoyed at the shout he knew was bound to happen. There had been about two minutes of silence since Itachi's announcement and one of them was bound to verbally shriek about the troubling news. For it was troubling news and one would be a fool not to think as such. But being the leader, one had to keep the flow going despite such obstacles.

"Hidan...calm down," spoke Pain opening his eyes to look at the man. Unlike him and the other 7 members, Hidan was actually there along with his partner, Kakazu. "It is something to worry about but luckily, we're able to worry about it rather than show up surprised to see it. Good job Itachi and Kisame" continued Pain before taking in a calming breath. "We will worry about the Kyubi later. I will be the one to face him when the time comes. You all steer clear of him from this point on."

Even as young as Naruto was, the Rinnegan is not something anyone not informed on the dojutsu should face. It was why Pain himself was so lauded. He knew that Naruto was easily as strong as he was at that age except added with the force of the Kyubi. That was a bit scary but Pain would handle it. It was his job to.

"For now though, we will begin to seal the Nanabi that Hidan and Kakazu recently captured."

The group all nodded their heads as they could see an unconscious girl lying on the floor between all of them. The first Jinchuriki they'd caught and it was finally time to start their journey in collecting them all. One down, eight to go. The ninth likely to be the hardest of all to capture.

 _(Konoha)_

Seated casually smoking his pipe, Sarutobi Hirzuen sat handling document after document that required his attention. Being Hokage didn't just make him the leader of Konoha's shinobi, but really he was the overseer of all that sat within these walls. It was sometimes weird to think about but he was practically a benevolent dictator. The buck stopped at him as far as Konoha things were concerned. Because of that, most matters were brought to him directly.

"Hi, Naruto-kun."

Arriving in an instant, Naruto stood with his Rinnegan beaming at the old man seated before him.

"So you figured out how my teleportation works?"

"You did show it once before while I was looking, wasn't that hard to break down," said the Kage with a smile before putting down his pen to look at his favorite chunin at the moment. He rose an eyebrow though to see Jiraiya piggybacking the younger shinobi with his feet and shins touching the ground due to the height difference. The dead appearance of his student had Hiruzen a bit worried. "Jiraiya..."

"Oh right, stole his soul," said Naruto summoning the king of hell who returned Jiraiya's soul once more.

"Ah HA! What who? Where?" questioned Jiraiya hysterically before noticing where he was. Standing up off of Naruto, Jiraiya patted his head before looking at his teacher. "What's up sensei? Thanks for the ride by the way kid."

"Whatever..." said Naruto before looking at Hiruzen. Seeing the man's eyes wide, Naruto let out a sigh. "I'm not explaining this. You tell him what happened since you're the leader anyway. I'm still on my other mission," continued Naruto looking at Hiruzen. Hiruzen remembered what Naruto was doing before this whole Akatsuki/Search for Tsunade thing and nodded to confirm he was still technically allowed to continue. Naruto smiled before the tomoe in his Rinnegan spun slowly. "Chikushodo (Animal Path)"

Sealing array showed before a poof of smoke puffed into existence. The wonder of who/what Naruto summoned was solved even before the smoke dissipated.

"DAMN IT SHITHEAD! I WAS SLEEPING! STOP DOING THAT SHIT!"

"Ah, Tayuya...of course," said Jiraiya looking to see that was indeed who Naruto summoned. His mission was destroying Oto and who better than one of its shinobi to help. She greeted Jiraya with a 'hey again perverted dumbass' and gave Hiruzen a courteous head nod before verbally attacking Naruto once more. _"Kid picked a pretty one at least but that mouth on her..."_

Naruto was unfazed by the vulgar language and berating diction as he just smiled at the girl.

"I missed you too."

"I didn't miss you idiot. Don't you know I hate your short ass..."

"You don't mean that. If you did, you'd have taken out those earrings that allow me to summon you," said Naruto tapping Tayuya's shoulder getting her to growl before turning to Hiruzen. "Ero-sensei will fill you all in Jiji. I'm going to go finish what I started before they try to scatter too far." continued Naruto before looking at Tayuya's skimpy sleepwear. Oto girl was really hot but that wasn't really battle attire. "After my travel buddy gets dressed of course. Can't have her fighting and risk her-"

 _AHHHHH!_

Naruto visibly cringed which alerted the three surrounding him as he held both of his ears. Tayuya was the first to ask him what was wrong.

"What the hell's bugging you?" questioned Tayuya before feeling the air freeze as Naruto drowned the area with killing intent. Tayuya froze when she saw the livid look in Naruto's Rinnegan. His tomoe were spinning out of sync as he took a calming breath that made the killing intent in the air disappear. Tayuya breathed out, not realizing she'd been holding her breath, before putting a hand to his shoulder. "The fuck was that...you gave me a fucking heart attack shithead."

"Chomei is in trouble..." said Naruto before taking another calming breath while building chakra. The three in the room wondered who Chomei was as Naruto clenched his fists. "I'll be back shortly."

"Wait, who's Chomei Naruto?" questioned Jiraiya getting the boy to look at him.

"The Nanabi" answered Naruto finding no reason not to inform them. Jiraiya's eyes widened at that admission along with Hiruzen and Tayuya. Naruto could feel the seven tails was in trouble. Well if the boy needed help then Jiraiya would- "She's far away. I can't teleport the both of us that length of a distance. I'll be fine though, don't worry."

With that said, Naruto took another breath before Jiraiya noticed three of his tomoe vanished from each eye.

"Ashura Senku," said Naruto appearing in a dark cave from the looks of it.

Gasps were heard as Naruto looked up to see holograms of men, a plant man, and a woman looking at him. He could see a girl levitating due to several ghastly chakra dragons that were forcibly removing her Bijuu.

 _"Chomei-chan, I'm here..."_ thought Naruto mentally seeing the seven-tailed Bijuu screaming in agony still. Naruto then turned to the only person that really mattered at the moment. The man with the same eyes as he. "I'm guessing you're the leader of Akatsuki."

"Kyubi...Jinchuriki. So you've come."

The two stared at each other for a moment and the tension in the air was thick. This wasn't about to be pretty.

* * *

 **And scene! I'll be back soon.**

 **-Hamp**


	5. No, This Is Naruto!

**Yo. Chapter 5. Enjoy**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. To the fanfic user, _Grounded Forever_ , I read your review lucid and spent roughly 15 minutes contemplating the query. Shit is so mind-boggling. Well played. Very, well played.

*Reference: "Is cereal technically soup?" is something I had Naruto say in an earlier chapter of this story. In that chapter's reviews, _GF_ wrote one that said "Now that I've added milk to the cereal, is it a broth a beverage or a sauce" and holy fuck it made that meta. Think of that as you read the chap peeps. Imma head to the drawing board again. Cause fuck me I just don't know.

Side Note: The title of this chapter is dedicated to _Stephen Hillenburg,_ the creator of _Spongebob_. Rest easy sir, you helped me through my childhood with the ideas and lessons you spread through your content. Thank you, forever.

* * *

 **Chapter 5: No, This Is Naruto!**

The feeling was indescribable. Literally, there was no way to describe how she felt. If the Nanabi jinchuriki was forced to give an explanation on what she felt she'd say...

 _"I don't know..."_ thought the girl seriously unable to describe what just happened to her. It was _indescribable_. She remembered getting torn apart by two guys in black cloaks with red clouds on them and then nothing. And then that feeling came. _"What happened to me?"_

The Nanabi jinchuriki was a young girl, just over fourteen years of age. She had an orange clip in her short, layered mint green hair that matched her currently closed orange eyes. She wore a short sleeveless white midriff shirt with fishnet armor underneath, long white armlets, and fishnet shorts with a short white apron skirt over it. There was a red, cylindrical object on her back and overall, her appearance was rather haggard. Blood, bruises, and cuts littered her body and clothes as she could feel every one of them.

"I think she's waking up Chomei-chan" the girl's eyes opened at the voice before she turned to where it came from. Standing there was a boy, about her age, with a spiky mop of blonde hair and a very warm expression on his face. Fu looked around to see they were on an orange plane with nothing else that could be seen for miles. "Hi, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, chunin shinobi from Konoha. May I have your name?"

"..." the girl stared blankly at Naruto with a bewildered expression on her face. Naruto didn't say a thing but after a minute of her not speaking, Naruto's Rinnegan opened which elicited a gasp from her. "Please! Please! Stay away from me! I don't know what I did!" shouted the girl frantically trying to scramble away. Naruto simply tilted his head curiously at her as she kept going back until she hit something. She looked back to see what it was and knew exactly what she hit. "Nanabi?!"

 **"Hi Fu,"** spoke the seven-tailed beast. The Nanabi looked like a giant rhinoceros beetle and unlike the Ichibi and Kyubi, six of its tails were wings with the seventh flowing out its abdomen like a proper tail. And Fu noticed the beast looking at her before turning its eyes to Naruto. **"And you can trust this boy. He's here to save you and me."**

Fu's eyes widened at that before she turned back to Naruto to see his warm expression had returned. Fu looked back up at her bijuu, receiving a nod, before turning back to Naruto.

"My name is Fu...though I guess Nanabi already told you."

"Chomei."

"...Chomei?"

"The Nanabi. Her name is Chomei," spoke Naruto turning his Rinnegan to the Bijuu who fluttered her wings happily at him. Naruto then turned his violet eyes to Fu and she marveled at the power she could feel from them. They were why she was so afraid at first. "You were abducted by a group called Akatsuki. They're after the Bijuu, like Chomei-chan there, for nefarious purposes I presume." continued Naruto offering the girl a hand up while he continued speaking. "To do that, they must first extract your Bijuu from you which would inevitably kill you."

Fu's eyes widened at that. She was dead? Or dying? She remembered getting taken and did that mean-

"No, you're not dead or dying...anymore at least. Well, technically, you're still dying but that's getting off topic," spoke Naruto laughing at the random existentialism. "Anyhoo, I got here with plenty of time to spare to save you and Chomei-chan," said Naruto with a smile getting Fu's heart to stop racing. "You're safe and very alive."

 _"Now that I think about it...if I was dead I shouldn't be able to feel my injuries or my heart beat...right?"_ thought Fu accepting Naruto's hand up as she stood before him. She found out he was shorter than her by half a foot but somehow didn't feel taller. _"He's so strong...I can feel it. It makes me feel so tiny..."_

"I'm glad you're awake now. It means it's working," said Naruto getting Fu to tilt her head.

"What's working?"

"My saving you."

"Saving me?" questioned Fu looking around to see nothing but her, Naruto, and Chomei. She couldn't feel that earlier feeling still but Naruto wasn't doing anything but talking. "How are you doing that when you're here, doing nothing?"

"This is a plane that Jinchuriki can venture to when fully connected to their Bijuu. A separate conscious I guess you can say that exists solely to the Bijuu. You aren't connected to Chomei but, I have my ways of bypassing certain rules..." said Naruto leaving no doubt that it was his Rinnegan as his tomoe orbited his pupils. Naruto's eyes then hardened as he looked up. "I'm actually about to speak with Akatsuki now though. I'll be back soon. Talk with Chomei...she's been wanting to talk with you for a long time."

And with that, Naruto returned to the real world with his hardened Rinnegan staring at another pair of the samsara eyes.

 _"He's using Gakido to absorb my Genryu Kyufujin (Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals)" _thought Pain, face unwavering despite the fact he knew Naruto was ending his extraction of the Nanabi and forcibly taking back the chakra he'd already gotten. Pain watched Naruto cradle the unconscious Nanabi Jinchuriki while staring at him. "Kyubi, how did you attain the Rinnegan?"

"They were given to me... the same as you apparently except mine are better integrated," said Naruto no longer as apprehensive of the hologram of a man. _"This man has the Rinnegan but those aren't his eyes. He can't use them to their full power otherwise he should have been able to stop me. Plus taking Chomei would have been a snap, not this long process they were doing."_ thought Naruto before seeing the other holograms in the room slowly begin to fade away. Maybe he spoke information he wasn't supposed to? Naruto didn't care as he looked back up at the man. "Who are you and why are you trying to take the Bijuu?"

"My name is Pain and my collecting of the Bijuu is to bring peace to this world."

"Is that so?" questioned Naruto before the tomoe in his eyes spun.

In an unknown and dark location, a feeble and weakened man sat within some sort of machine. He had deep red hair and his eyes matched the hologram of the spiky-haired hologram in the cave with Naruto. And he merely rose an eyebrow as a hologram of Naruto now stood before him with his Rinnegan looking right at the _real_ him.

"Hmm, so you're the actual Rinnegan wielder. I see you can at least use the paths properly. I went to the orange-haired one first before getting here," spoke Naruto looking around. He couldn't gauge where he was but it didn't really matter. He was only here for one reason as he stared back at the fragile-looking man with a chilling glare. "You try to take another Bijuu...I will find you. And I will kill you. This I promise"

Despite the look and threat, the man before Naruto didn't react at all. Not a single thing changed about him from Naruto's Rinnegan's enhanced point of view. He just kept staring at Naruto before nodding his head.

"Understood, allow me to reciprocate," spoke the man calmly and unfazed by Naruto's words. "I will find you soon Kyubi and extract your Bijuu. And that's only after I show you the power of a _true_ God."

The two Rinnegan wielders stood looking at one another for a while before Naruto returned to the cave to look left. Unlike Pain and the majority of Akatsuki, two of the members were physically there. And the one with slicked-back silver hair came charging at Naruto with a maniacal grin on his face and a wicked tri-bladed scythe cocked back.

"Look alive there Kyubi!" shouted the man swinging at Naruto. The scythe got a centimeter from digging into Naruto before stopping inexplicably. "What the fuck?!"

"Remember my words...Pain," said Naruto turning his eyes back to the hologram as he spoke. Pain didn't wait to see what Naruto was going to do to his remaining members. He simply disappeared like the other holograms before the large statue he stood on disappeared as well. A statue Naruto knew. _"The Gedo Mazo was summoned from the moon...and he's synched with it. I can't take it without physically disrupting his connection to it."_ thought Naruto before letting it go for now and turning back to the man frozen by his gravity powers. "You both shouldn't have followed him."

"I don't follow him," spoke the man before a gleeful grin came to his face as he closed his eyes. "I only follow Jashin-sama!"

"JASHIN?!" shouted Naruto before blowing the entire cave and much of the area surrounding it up with a very potent Seiatsu.

The only piece of land within a square kilometer that stood unaffected was the spot Naruto stood on holding Fu. Everything else was crushed and thrown haphazardly outward from Naruto by a blast of pure gravity. Naruto's Rinnegan was spinning wildly as he took a calming breath. He remembered the actual Jashin from Hagoromo's memories and just...no.

"Chikushodo" said Naruto summoning the same lion-turtle hybrid from earlier with Jiraiya. Setting Fu atop it gently, Naruto could see the man spouting about Jashin picking himself up out of the rubble he was buried under. "I can't allow you to live past this day. Not following that _religion_...if it can be called that."

"...That fucking hurt you brat!" shouted the man furiously looking at Naruto stand about half a kilometer away. Naruto couldn't hear him but it didn't stop him from yelling. "I'm going to fucking torture you! I don't give a fuck that you're the Kyubi. You're dying!"

"Shin Shun Goku Satsu (True Instant Hell Murder)"

The Akatsuki member blinked seeing Naruto ghost toward him. He grinned a bit at the slow gait the boy was taking to get to him before absolutely blinding pain hit him. A noiseless scream erupted from the man's mouth as his body simply disintegrated slowly into nothingness as Naruto phased through him. He didn't dissolve into ash or dust, just nothingness literally. The man was simply gone.

"...Hi-Hidan..." stammered out the other member of Akatsuki having also recovered from Naruto's Gravity blast only to watch his partner get turned to nothing. Naruto didn't even touch him. He just ghosted through Hidan and the follower of Jashin just disappeared. _"What the hell is this boy?"_ thought the man seeing Naruto wheezing and visibly winded. Whatever technique he just used must have taken a lot out of him because he looked like he could barely stand. _"I have to take a chance."_

"Katon: Zukokku (Fire Style: Intelligent Hard Work)" "Futon: Atsugai (Wind Style: Pressure Damage)"

Two figures, composed of black threads entirely, burst from the back of the man's Akatsuki cloak. One had a mask with red markings and the other sported a mask as well except with dark blue markings. The former brewed a fire jutsu while the other combined a wind jutsu with it before they expelled them in a hellacious torrent of fire. The fire careened right into the unmoving Naruto.

The man looked on for a moment to see the results of his attack considering Naruto was actually consumed by it. His heart sank though when he could see Naruto absorbing it like a vacuum with a blue, near invisible shield that appeared around his entire body.

 _"Just like with those dragons...he really can absorb chakra,"_ thought the man before blinking to see Naruto stand before him with a palm tapping his chest. "Shunshin? That fast?!"

"No, teleportation," informed Naruto getting back-handed across the face. Heh, this guy was pretty good to react like that but sadly, it only turned Naruto's head. "Shurado" spoke Naruto augmenting his body substantially to withstand the powerful blow that was enhanced by earth release. The man before Naruto could augment himself too but not enough to stop what Naruto had planned. "Before I kill you...tell me your name."

"..."

"..." Naruto didn't receive an answer verbally from the man but did from what he was about to do. "You shouldn't have followed Pain...Kakazu."

And like that, Naruto pulled his hand back with the soul of Kakazu attached to it. Naruto simply watched the man lifelessly fall to the ground as the black figures that'd come from his body destabilized and fell to the Earth lifeless.

"You had multiple hearts that could bring you back and a body that could sustain any physical attack," spoke Naruto looking down at the man. "But we're all given only one soul. Luckily for you, you'll at least have an afterlife, unlike your partner." continued Naruto as three of his tomoe vanished from each eye. He was down to three now as tears of blood leaked from both eyes. _"The true Shun Goku erases the body along with the soul...and it still hurts so much to use. I have to take it easy for a while..."_

Naruto stood for a moment before dropping backward. His lion-turtle had arrived though to catch him, which he could see thanks to his shared vision, as he laid on the back of it. Naruto wiped the blood from his eyes and face before closing them to get some rest. His summoning merely began to walk away from the area per mental orders from its master.

Naruto would wake up eventually and so would Fu to get proper directions in regards to returning her home. But for now, sleep. Naruto just wanted... no, he needed to sleep.

 _(Konoha - Two Days Later)_

This was getting to be a bit troubling, Naruto hadn't returned yet. That wasn't much of a problem, Naruto could have teleported a far distance away and that could be why he was still gone.

No, the real problem was that he hadn't at least sent back word or anything that he was okay. Even when Jiraiya tried to use a toad to get correspondence, Naruto was ignoring that call too. That was an issue and had the man panicking over the jinchuriki as he sat atop the Hokage Tower looking to the sky.

 _"You better be alright kid..."_ thought Jiraiya nervously biting his nails.

"You'll be starting on your actual finger at that pace you know?"

"Huh?" Jiraiya perked up at the voice and turned to see Tsunade standing there smirking at him.

"Never thought I'd be able to sneak up on you. Your pervy radar not working so well anymore I see," said Tsunade watching Jiraiya turn his vision back to the sky. Tsunade frowned at that reaction before deciding to walk up to the man. "What's troubling you Jiraiya? Is it still Naruto?"

"That easy to read?"

"Well, it's the only thing you've been worried about since telling me what happened to him," spoke Tsunade standing by the rail Jiraiya was sitting atop of to also look out at the sky. "And hearing his story...you're actually worried about him?"

"...yeah?"

"Why?"

"He's a kid"

"He's not just a kid. He's a kid with the most powerful dojutsu and chakra given to him by the Sage of Six Paths himself," said Tsunade turning her brown eyes to Jiraiya to see he'd turned back to her already. "That kid could probably kick our asses one on two if he felt the need. Could maybe even take sensei back in his prime."

"Pfft, no one could mess with sensei in his prime. No one."

"Naruto could."

"Nope, sensei can use every element."

"Naruto can too."

"...well uhh," spoke Jiraiya somehow forgetting that before snapping his fingers. "Sensei knows every jutsu in Konoha."

"Naruto does too. He got sensei's memories when he gave him chakra remember," said Tsunade reminding Jiraiya that Naruto did know everything Hiruzen did. When he saved the man from Orochimaru and gave him chakra, Hiruzen's memories came with. Why the little bastard knew so many jutsu when he was tossing them at Jiraiya. "And with his rinnegan, Naruto can _use_ them unlike sensei who only _knows_ every jutsu. Kami, that kid isn't even grown yet and he's already scary."

"Heh, you're right...kid's busted."

"I know! He's a kid still though but, he's plenty strong. And that's why, despite his lack of return or communication...you know he's fine," said Tsunade with a smile. "Kid kicked my ass to make me believe. And he kicked yours too so I know you know he's fine. You just miss him is all. He'll be back."

"Heh...maybe," laughed Jiraiya. "Yeah, you're right. Kid's got me walking around here all worried when I shouldn't be at all. He'll respond as soon as he can."

"Of course he will."

"Thanks for that," said Jiraiya with a smile getting a nod and smile from his teammate. He needed that. He already felt calmer. "In the meantime though hime..." said Jiraiya with a grin sliding on his face. The man's eyes panned down to his teammate's cleavage that was prominently on display as he giggled mischievously. "We hadn't properly reintroduced ourselves after all these years. What say you and I-"

"Damn pervert..." said Tsunade after decking Jiraiya and sending him flying through the air across Konoha. Tsunade was still smiling though and shook her head at his antics. "At least you're not gonna worry about Naruto as much being unconscious." continued Tsunade before hearing Naruto's name below. Looking down, the medic saw a young girl with pale, blonde hair chattering loudly about the boy while rushing into the Hokage's Tower. _"Hmm, I shouldn't be nosy but...I've got nothing better to do until Hiruzen pays me for helping out his shinobi. Why not? Plus, she might know about Naruto."_

And with that, Tsunade decided to go be nosy.

 _(Hokage's Office)_

Hiruzen stood in his office, calmly smoking from his pipe, as he looked out the window to his village below.

"Ahh, I'll never be tired of this sight," spoke Hiruzen aloud looking at his peaceful village. A smile came to his face seeing the people pass by before a knock came to his door. "Come in."

The door opened and in stepped a rather plain looking woman with round glasses that she pressed back up her nose.

"Sandaime-sama, a Yamanaka Ino is here and she says she has urgent news regarding Uzumaki Naruto."

"Naruto-kun? Please, allow her in," spoke Hiruzen as the woman bowed before leaving to get Ino. _"There hasn't been any word from Naruto since he left for the Nanabi...what could Ino possibly know?"_

"Sandaime-sama!" greeted Ino rushing through the door and breathing rather heavily. Hiruzen greeted the girl with a smile despite the very urgent look on her face. "Where's Naruto-kun?!"

"Hello Ino-chan. And Naruto-kun is on a mission," said Hiruzen watching the girl deflate a bit at that. Hiruzen himself deflated internally considering he thought Ino might have known where Naruto was. His worry for the boy made him disregard the fact no one knew where Naruto went since it was so abrupt. Regardless though, Hiruzen had appearances to keep up. "Don't worry, he should return soon. Is there something for him?"

"Yes! There's this guy sitting outside the village waiting for him!" shouted Ino frantically getting Hiruzen's eyes to widen momentarily. "He says he's here to kill him! Asuma-sensei said we can't do anything about verbal threats but...but...what?! You have to go out there! You can arrest him or something right?"

Hiruzen looked in the blue eyes of Ino pleading with him to say yes or something. He chose to say nothing though as he merely emptied his pipe and found his Hokage Hat. Dusting it lightly, the man put it on before turning to the mind reader.

"Let me go and see what's going on. Can you lead me?" questioned Hiruzen getting a nod from the girl before she nabbed his hand.

Who knew the girl was so strong as she manhandled one of the strongest men in the world away like he was nothing.

* * *

 _(With Naruto)_

"...fuck."

That summed it up pretty simple. Naruto felt horribly weak and even opening his eyes was quite the chore. Naruto sat up slowly and felt something land in his lap. Looking down, Naruto saw it was a wet piece of clothing that'd probably been on his forehead.

 _"Hmm,"_ thought Naruto looking to see a spot for a campfire sat a little bit away that was currently out. Naruto continued surveying his surroundings to find Fu settled on the other side sleeping soundly. And from his current spot, Naruto realized they were in a cave. "Another cave? My damn head..."

Naruto clutched his head, feeling a bit dizzy before he shrugged it off and began to stand. Naruto cautiously stepped over Fu and moved to the entrance of the cave and knew exactly where he was. He remembered it exactly from Kakazu's memories that'd he took when he ripped out the man's soul.

"Hmm, if this is correct then..." said Naruto already knowing it was correct because the moment he dropped down the thirty feet of the cave to the earth below, Naruto saw what he was already seeing in his head. His turtle lion was still out and about and looked at him the moment he landed before it. "Hi buddy. Anything go wrong?"

Naruto petted the animal lightly on the head getting it to coddle into his touch. Naruto smiled before dispelling it back to where it came. And once the smoke cleared from it dispelling, Naruto could see a brush of foliage that didn't match the bit around it. Walking by it, no one would ever notice. Naruto did though because he had Kakazu's memories.

"Dometsu (Guiding Destruction)" said Naruto holding out a palm to the different patch of grass to pull it up with his gravity powers. The patch drifted to his palm as Naruto smiled seeing a safe was underneath. A clone popped into existence next to Naruto as he looked at it. "You know the code and where the traps are right?" the clone nodded with a smile as Naruto nodded his head. "Count it. Make sure it is still 1,740,093,800 Ryo like Kakazu counted last time he was here."

"Gotcha boss," said the clone turning to the safe before turning the cylinder to get to work.

Naruto then jumped back to the entrance of the cave from earlier and turned his eyes to the still sleeping Fu. He didn't want to disturb her but he had a few questions. So, Naruto walked over to the tan-skinned girl and kneeled beside her.

"Hey Fu-"

"AH!" shouted Fu snapping awake before looking around frantically.

"...ouch."

Fu looked toward the noise to see Naruto laying down next to her while holding his gut. Why was he holding his gut like that? Then Fu looked over to see her fist outstretched and realized what happened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Naruto. I was startled."

"...I noticed," said Naruto playing off how bad that punch hurt. Sitting up on his knees, Naruto felt Fu latch both hands on either side of his face and scrutinize it from up close. A mild blush tinted Naruto's cheeks at the proximity as he just looked at her. "Uhh...are you okay?"

"Yes, are you okay though?"

"Yes, I feel a bit weak but nothing time won't heal."

"You sure? You had me worried?"

"Really?"

"Really. You've been out for two days."

Fu knew better and was very prepared for Naruto's outburst. So she didn't even react to the impending shout from the Rinnegan user.

"TWO DAYS?!" shrieked Naruto a bit loud getting Fu to nod her head to confirm it. _"Two days...this body...the Shin Shun put me out for two days?!"_ thought Naruto looking down at that knowledge. The Rinne Rebirth he tried but was stopped by Hagoromo, the physical tax it took to use techniques, and how Kurama and Shukaku looked at him. It was more and more clear. "I'm not Hagoromo. I've never been. I've always been Naruto."

Hagoromo's memories were in his head. Well, so were two members of the Sound Four, Hiruzen, and Kakazu. He didn't magically become them after that. Naruto was still Naruto so it should be the same with Hagoromo. He was Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. Always had been and always will be, memories be damned.

"Who's Hagoromo?" questioned Fu getting Naruto to look at her with an eased expression.

"Don't worry about it. It's just a name," said Naruto placing his hands on Fu's wrists to remove her hands from his cheeks. Naruto stood while pulling Fu up to stand with him. "I'm sorry for making you worry but I'll be fine now. I promise."

"Okay, I'm glad," said Fu as Naruto patted her hands before turning around. Fu couldn't help but notice something weird. _"Did he grow a couple inches? He's taller now."_

"Now, I don't know about you but I need a bathroom and my bed..." spoke Naruto stepping outside with Fu stepping up beside him a few seconds later. "Chikushodo. Now, let's get you home."

In a poof of smoke, Naruto's Tengu was summoned and stood tall as the cave despite its feet touching the ground thirty feet below. Naruto petted the animal's beak before cringing a bit at the loud shout from Fu.

"No! I don't want to go back there!" shouted Fu getting Naruto to turn to her. The girl was trembling as she shook her head vehemently. "Please, anywhere but there..."

"Why not..." said Naruto with a frown wondering why the girl wouldn't want to return home. Fu simply looked down, unwilling to tell him as Naruto walked before her and held out a palm. "Can I see for myself at least?"

Fu looked at him and only saw concern and a bit of hidden fury in his Rinnegan. Naruto had saved her once, with no provocation to do so. Maybe he could do it again if she just told him. But she wouldn't use words, he could dig for it himself.

"Ningendo," said Naruto holding Fu's hand and closing his eyes. A second passed before his eyes snapped opened and he nodded. "We don't have to go there. We won't go there..." continued Naruto before looking at the girl with sorrow-filled eyes. "I'm sorry for what happened to you...but never again. Never, again. We'll go to Konoha for now, Hokage-Jiji will know how to handle this."

Fu nodded her head since that was where Naruto would also be going. She was going to stay by him for a while. He would make sure everything went right from here on out. It's what her bijuu, Chomei, said when Naruto left the Bijuu plane to face Akatsuki. And with that, the two of them set sail on his Tengu back to Konoha.

 _(Several Hours Later)_

Flying atop Naruto's tengu, the travel back to Konoha wasn't long at all as it touched down a few miles outside of the village before dispelling. From there, Naruto teleported with Fu atop his back right to the Hokage's office.

"You have a visitor Naruto-kun."

"Hmm?" questioned Naruto turning to see Hiruzen looking at him upon his arrival. Naruto rose an eyebrow and looked at the currently asleep Fu in his arms held bridal style. "How did you know I had a visitor?"

"I...I didn't mean the Nanabi Jinchuriki..." said Hiruzen recognizing the girl. _"Naruto-kun said Chomei was the Nanabi, of course he would return with the Nanabi Jinchuriki."_ thought Hiruzen before also realizing something. Naruto was actually here. "And my boy, you're back. You had us worried for a little bit."

"I'll explain later...but you said I had a visitor?" questioned Naruto looking at his Kage.

"Yes, he's at the west gate," said Hiruzen getting Naruto to nod. "He's here to kill you." continued the Kage getting Naruto's eyes to widen. If Naruto's visitor was here to kill him and Hiruzen knew about it, why was he allowing that person to sit so close to- "It's something you'll have to handle. I was going to but, it's something you should do."

"Okay Jiji, also..." said Naruto setting Fu down on the couch that was in the office. Naruto then turned back to Hiruzen and looked him in the eyes. "It's later."

A quick Rinnegan stare sent Hiruzen on a trip. Hiruzen could see it all. Teleporting to the cave where Akatsuki was extracting the Bijuu, halting the process and saving the jinchuriki girl, threatening the leader of Akatsuki to his face with a hologram, absolutely dismantling the two members who'd captured her and were unluckily physically at that location, passing out for two days, the extreme funds of Kakazu, and finally the memories the Nanabi Jinchuriki had that were prevalent to her and her home of Takigakure.

"Wow..." said Hiruzen a bit shaken at that sequence of memories that'd come all in a second. He shrugged off the drawbacks impressively though before looking back at Naruto. "Thank you. I'll handle it from here," continued the Kage as he looked at Fu. "Especially her...I can't believe Taki would do that. Just give her away because of the threat of two men. They didn't even ask us for help."

"You're on it right?"

"Of course my boy. I will handle it," said Hiruzen with a smile as he pat Naruto on the head. "You've gotten taller again?"

"A little bit."

"Going to catch me soon but," said the old man before patting Naruto on the back. "Please go to the west gate if you would."

"Hai..." said Naruto taking one last look at Fu before vanishing in an Ashura Senku. Naruto arrived at the west gate in an instant and looked to see five figures there. _"Hmm, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Asuma-san. They're here and...who's that?"_

The who Naruto was referring to was a teenager from the looks of it, about three years older than he was. He had pale skin, vivid green eyes, two scarlet dots on his forehead, and shoulder-length white hair. And Naruto could tell he was from Otogakure based on his outfit. A specialized version of the Oto-nin ensemble, consisting of a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, zip-up shirt, black pants cut off around mid-calf, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around his waist.

"Kaguya Kimimaro"

The white-haired teen perked up along with Team Asuma at the name and turned to see Naruto standing there. Ino was the first to react upon seeing him.

"Naruto-kun! You're back!" shouted Ino getting a smile from Naruto at her excitement before she realized that his Rinnegan was out and that everyone could see. She rushed him and cradled him in a hug to hide that from everyone else. With a whisper, she spoke to him. "Your eyes Naruto-kun...there's only three tomoe now. Are you okay?"

Naruto smiled even more at Ino's attempt to keep his Rinnegan hidden from her teammates and the Oto ninja. A lot different from the girl trying to expose him less than a fortnight ago. It even tugged at his heartstrings that she noticed the lack of tomoe in his eyes too. Naruto just calmly removed her from him though before shaking his head amusedly.

"It's fine and I am fine. I promise. Also, I'm quite certain that the news of my Rinnegan will spread like wildfire in the coming days since they've been noticed by an enemy of mine," said Naruto thankful that Ino at least was considerate of his desire to keep them hidden. But, if the story was going to get out anyway, Naruto figured he wanted to at least tell some people before they read about it in the papers. So he did that as he looked at the remainder of Team Asuma. "So, yeah...I have the Rinnegan. Ino-chan wasn't lying back then."

Shikamaru, Choji, and Asuma all stood stunned at that admission from Naruto. Especially considering they could see his currently three tomoe'd Rinnegan looking right back at them to confirm exactly what he was saying.

"Na-Na-Naruto..." spoke Asuma finally as the cigarette he'd been smoking fell out of his mouth.

"Yeah, crazy right...it's a nice story that I'll tell once I get a few more people together so I don't have to repeat it," said Naruto before turning to the white-haired teen from Oto. Naruto knew exactly who this was now thanks to the memories he'd pilfered from two of the Sound Four during the invasion. "Kaguya Kimimaro...I'm guessing you're here to see me for what happened to Orochimaru?"

"You're Uzumaki Naruto?" questioned Kimimaro looking at Naruto with a bored expression. He could feel the power radiating from the boy's eyes but his stature had him a bit curious. _"Kabuto returned without Orochimaru-sama and said 'Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha' killed him not the Sandaime but...he's just a kid."_ thought Kimimaro watching Naruto simply nod to confirm he was him. "Is this a joke? Where is the real Uzumaki Naruto? The one that killed Orochimaru-sama."

"He is I," said Naruto before the tomoe in his eyes orbited and ensnared everyone in the area in a flashback. They were all subjected to Naruto entering the fight between Orochimaru and the Sandaime, Naruto handling the Edo Tensei summonings of Hashirama and Tobirama, and lastly to him destroying Orochimaru's soul. The five all returned from the visions and were visibly shaken by what they saw. "Do you believe me now. I am Uzumaki Naruto and yes, I killed your master."

Kimimaro was visibly breathing heavily from the memories he just viewed. It'd felt like he'd done everything that Naruto did. He could feel everything and was even the one to complete the Shun Goku Satsu that fully ended his master's life. It enraged him and now, the cause of his anger and current loss was standing right before him. Naruto would pay for this right-

"You wouldn't survive," said Naruto getting Kimimaro to stop his lunging at him before he could even try it. Kimimaro just stared at Naruto to see sorrow-filled eyes looking back. "Seriously, you wouldn't survive. Even if you wanted to attack me, you can't move a muscle." continued Naruto as Kimimaro looked down to see his shadow was connected to Shikamaru's. He'd forgotten that Naruto had four comrades right behind him and all of them looked ready to handle any aggressive action from him. "I'm sorry that I took your master. I don't know what he meant to you. I acted in defense of my loved one without considering that Orochimaru also had those who loved him in return. So, I'm sorry for taking him away from you."

Kimimaro just focused his green eyes on Naruto as he watched the boy walk up to him. He could feel Naruto's apology was genuine and didn't even stop Naruto from touching his chest right where a certain mark sat.

"Orochimaru still lives within you, right here," said Naruto alluding to the Curse Mark settled on the boy's chest. "But, his essence isn't something I can allow to continue thriving in this world so..." continued Naruto pulling out the remnants of Orochimaru from Kimimaro before the King of Hell spawned behind the Oto ninja. Naruto tossed the soul within before returning his palm to Kimimaro. "If you wish to hate me, I understand. At least allow me to do this for you though."

The same sequence as last time, Naruto moved his palm from Kimimaro only this time, he had Kimimaro's soul attached. The boy's lifeless body stood before him until the King of Hell extended its tongue to snatch the body away into its mouth. Chewing a few times, the King of Hell opened its mouth again before Naruto tossed Kimimaro's soul back to his body.

 _"What was that..."_ thought Kimimaro feeling like he'd died but he couldn't feel any time had passed either. It was weird but even weirder was how he felt. His body... "Did...did you...heal me?"

"Yes, your terminal illness is gone," said Naruto watching Kimimaro step out of the King of Hell's mouth and test his body. The King of Hell slowly descended into the ground as Naruto closed his eyes and sighed. "I know not of your past to the fullest extent. I do know that you're a ninja and that you've followed Orochimaru's orders. But Orochimaru is no longer here and you don't give any inclination of malicious intent like Tayuya-chan didn't. Otherwise, the King of Hell would have kept your body." continued Naruto before simply turning away. "If you still want to kill me, then find a better opportunity. But, I stole your master's life so I figured, the least I could do is allow you the chance to keep yours."

"Naruto-kun," said Ino watching him begin to walk back to Konoha.

"Thank you Asuma-san, Shika, Choji, and Ino-chan. I appreciate you all being here and worrying about me. It is no longer necessary," said Naruto still continuing his gait to Konoha. The team of four started following him with Asuma keeping his eyes on Kimimaro's stagnant frame. "I hope to see you again some day Kimimaro. Hopefully a more pleasant meeting."

Naruto continued on to Konoha as Asuma watched Kimimaro nod before turning away from Konoha and walking away slowly. Asuma could feel the two of them would meet again.

 _"I hope that doesn't come back to bite you on the ass kid..."_ thought Asuma before fully turning to follow the four teens back home. His eyes mainly on Naruto. _"And I hope you explain what happened to you soon too. You've got the Rinnegan? I thought that was just a fable dad told to help me get to sleep."_

All of Team Asuma, sans Ino, since she knew, watched Naruto and couldn't wait to hear his story. It was sure to be good.

 _(Naruto's Home)_

In an Ashura Senku, Naruto arrived home right in his bathroom after bidding Team Asuma adieu. Cranking the shower on, Naruto quickly stripped before stepping right on in.

 _"I need a new place...water still runs cold."_ thought Naruto.

Honestly, he didn't even give it a chance to get to its lukewarm status like normal but, it wasn't steaming hot as it should be. And that needed to get rectified soon. A quick rinse after soaping up, Naruto turned the cold water off before drying off with a towel. His pajamas on, which consisted of his toad cap, toad shorts, and a white shirt, Naruto stepped out of his bathroom and plummeted on his bed unceremoniously.

Oh, how he missed his bed. And oh, how he needed some sleep. Sleep he was going to get regardless of the hand currently mushing his face and foot trying to kick him off his bed.

"Oi! Shithead, what the fuck are you doing?!" shouted Tayuya having been in the bed sound asleep until Naruto plopped down on it. She then realized that Naruto was trying to sleep with her also there and she wasn't having that. "Get the fuck up! I was already here."

"Tayuya-chan...please," said Naruto turning his Rinnegan to her and getting her to freeze at the killing intent he was leaking out. "This is my bed, my apartment, my home. I am going to sleep in my bed. I don't care if you're also here because I'm likely not moving from this spot with how tired I am." continued Naruto turning the killing intent off when he realized he might be scaring the girl. Naruto then turned his face away from her before closing his very heavy eyes. "I have Akatsuki stuff, Oto stuff, Fu stuff, explaining stuff, and a lot of other stuff I don't know of yet to handle starting tomorrow. But today isn't tomorrow so, I'm going to sleep. Please don't disturb me."

Tayuya sat on the other side of Naruto's bed and watched him casually drift off into sleep in less than ten seconds after speaking. A few minutes passed before Tayuya realized he was genuinely out for real before she narrowed her eyes.

"I don't care! Wake up!" shouted Tayuya nudging Naruto and not getting a response. "Your bed ain't big enough for both of us. And I was here first. I'm not moving!" continued Tayuya flopping back down on the bed and stealing all the covers. She huffed and settled down before turning to see Naruto still had yet to move. "And who the fuck is Fu! Wake up you stupid and strong piece of shit!"

Tayuya could and would keep trying until she could try no more, but Naruto was out. And he wouldn't be waking up until tomorrow morning came. Tomorrow would be so fun but for today, Naruto would just rest. He really did need it.

* * *

 **And Scene. Be back soon.**

 **-Hamp**

 **P.S. Thanks for 1,000+ faves and 1,000+ reviews. This story is pretty popular with such a few chaps. It's always nice that people I'll never know in real life fuck with something I put forth on this site. So thanks for that and cheerio on to more milestones.**


	6. Not The Messiah

**Ahoy! Chapter Six. Enjoy.**

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 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. *stands atop the chair I typed this in and performs a double backflip whilst landing on the back of the chair like a ninja* I still don't own Naruto. Just thought that that visual would look badass. I'd actually do it if I didn't think I'd break my neck in the attempt.

Side Note: No, I am not dying just because I'm updating fast _Marquis Shax_. Your review had me dying laughing when I read it...wait, _dying_ laughing...OH SHIT! You got me, even if it was inadvertent. Because of that, here's another chap.

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 **Chapter 6: Not The Messiah**

"Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama!"

"...fuck."

It's weird that the word 'fuck' can sum up any bad situation. Used a Rinnegan technique that weakened your vitality and put you in a coma for two days? Fuck. Hearing the constant chanting of your name outside of your apartment at seven in the morning after a long set of days? Fuck. It was the perfect word for bad situations. At least these days according to Kurama's Jinchuriki.

Naruto blearily opened his Rinnegan and blinked several times at the constant 'Naruto-sama' coming from all around him. It was so loud and it made sense considering Naruto could feel at least two hundred people were out there chanting in sync. The Rinnegan news spread more like sunlight than a wildfire because that was way too fast for the news to get out and result in this.

It was getting a bit annoying to keep hearing his name but Naruto had patience. Hagoromo's memories helped a bit with that since he'd lived through times like this. So yes, Naruto was patient and didn't even get higher than mild irritation at what was going on. But Naruto wasn't the only one having to hear the chanting and that person was well above mild irritation at this point.

"For fuck's sake shithead. Shut them the fuck up!"

Naruto's eyes snapped wide at that angry shout for two reasons. One, it was said loud as hell. And two, the person yelling it happened to be lying next to him with their mouth right by his ear. Tayuya rose up angrily at the shouts coming from outside and reached over to grab her flute that sat on Naruto's dresser.

Tayuya sat up on her knees before bringing the flute to her mouth. A beautiful tune emitted from the flute as Naruto could see it was really a Genjutsu. A very weak one though because Naruto didn't even have to dispell it. He could fight off the effects of it even before he had the Rinnegan. It wasn't meant for him though. It was for the two hundred plus people outside that Naruto could feel were slowly but surely falling asleep.

 _"The people outside are civilians...they can't fight this Genjutsu even if it is weak."_ thought Naruto hearing the chanting get lower and lower until it was nonexistent.

"Fucking dumbasses. He's not a god just because of some stupid ass eyes..." said Tayuya dropping her head right back on the mattress with a thud and keeping her flute handy in case they started back up.

"...uhh, Tayu-"

"Shut the fuck up shithead!" shouted Tayuya before calming back down and speaking quietly. He wasn't the issue so she didn't mean to yell but she still wanted silence. "I don't care. I stayed up trying to get your dumbass off the bed and haven't got much sleep. I'm tired and I'm not moving again."

"But-"

"Shut up."

What Tayuya didn't know or care about was what Naruto did know and care about. When Tayuya first awoke, she and Naruto merely slept side by side. The only way possible on his puny bed. Well, Tayuya had to reach over Naruto to get to her flute and by doing so, ending up straddling him in the process. She never un-straddled him when she slammed her head back down on the bed which meant she was still on him fully.

Did Naruto ever tell you that Tayuya was hot? Because if he hadn't made it obvious before, he definitely wanted it to be known that Tayuya was very hot. Hot girl plus teen boy multiplied by intimate position, this movie always ends the same way. And Tayuya felt that ending prod against her butt as she didn't even react to it at all.

"..."

"..."

"uhh-"

"I don't care...shut up."

Naruto cared though as he teleported out of there and right into a cold shower. He didn't have time for this. He knew Tayuya cared and she'd likely kick his ass later when she had the energy because he definitely stayed longer than he should have. Curse his curiosity as a growing boy and how nice Oto girl felt using him as a pillow.

His inevitable beating would have been way worse had he stayed and tried to 'enjoy' what was happening. So, he quickly dismissed himself to the bathroom to get started with his day. He had a lot of things to get to. One of those things being Tayuya eventually because of the Oto thing but he'd save that for much later. He'd let her get her sleep now as he got ready to leave and begin handling some of the things on his list.

 _(Sometime Later)_

"Hello Naruto-sama!"

"Please shake my hand Naruto-sama!"

"Look at them! They're really there, the Rinnegan!"

"Have my baby!"

"Here are some flowers!"

Naruto walked through Konoha and his patience was slowly waning. Just like his sanity. A month ago and every day that preceded it, he'd been ignored for the most part by the denizen that called Konoha home. A week or so ago, he had a few people cheering him for his performance in the Chunin Exam and his known defeat of the Ichibi. Now, he was more popular than the man who'd lead them as their Kage for over four decades. It was becoming a bit too much for the Jinchuriki.

 _"Okay, Hagoromo didn't go through this at thirteen. And the person who asked me to have their baby was a dude..."_ thought Naruto internally while keeping a smile and shaking hands as he slowly made his way to the Hokage's office to speak. _"Even if I rolled that way...that's still not possible. Surrogate could happen but whatever, it doesn't matter. That won't happen. And this will die down... hopefully, sooner than later."_

Naruto eventually did make it to his destination despite the constant and huge wave of people impeding him on his journey. He smiled and waved all the way until the doors closed and he was finally safe inside the building.

"...fuck." The perfect word for bad situations showed itself again. Naruto took a calming breath now that he was temporarily free before looking to the greeter seated at the entrance of the Hokage's tower. "Heh, crazy traffic today isn't it?"

"No, I had an easy time getting here," spoke the closed-eyes old woman with a smile on her face. Naruto frowned at that and shook his head before making his way upstairs to Hiruzen's office. "Have a good day, Naruto-kun!"

"Thank you baa-chan!" shouted back Naruto giving her a smile before getting to where he needed to be at the moment. He was glad she didn't call him 'sama' like everyone else was doing. He was still just Naruto. Walking through the doors after greeting the Hokage's secretary, Naruto saw Hiruzen, decked out in Hokage garbs, smiling at him. "Yo Jiji! Good morning."

"Hello 'Naruto-sama'" said Hiruzen getting Naruto to frown at hearing that from the old man. "I'm just playing Naruto-kun but, Yamanaka Ino told me to tell you that payback's a... well, I'm sure you know how that phrase ends."

 _"Ino-chan? Payback's a-No! There's no way."_ thought Naruto coming to the realization of what was going on. If the news of his Rinnegan was supposed to spread like a wildfire then Ino became gasoline that really got it going. _"She must have told everyone herself and that's why people were outside my door this morning and going so absolutely crazy already..."_ Naruto began to laugh at that remembering Ino said she'd be getting him back. Even if it was inadvertently this good, it was still intended and it got Naruto to laugh a bit harder. "I'm so going to get revenge. Oh, yes...yes I am."

Hiruzen stood watching Naruto and began to laugh nervously when Naruto's laughter started to turn downright sinister. Ino did indeed go out and spread the news of Naruto's Rinnegan yesterday while the boy slept. Pretty impressive how she managed to get all the information to everyone in Konoha so fast. The girl had talent. But she forgot one thing, Naruto was the undisputed prank king.

The boy had no equal. Naruto painted the Hokage monument in broad daylight and didn't get caught until he was finished. The scary thing was, he did that before he had the Rinnegan. What the hell would he do now? Yamanaka Ino's shoulder chose to twitch very harshly at that moment which she found odd for its randomness.

"Naruto-kun...you have a big day ahead of you," said Hiruzen getting Naruto to stop scaring him with his villainous guffawing.

"Right! Should be fun, I hope," spoke Naruto looking at the old Kage with a grin and thumbs up. "I'm guessing you already got stuff started?"

"I have, follow me if you would."

And follow him Naruto did. They walked for a while before stepping through a door Naruto recognized as the large conference room. Within, Chunin and Jonin level shinobi of Konoha sat and were talking until Hiruzen and Naruto opened the door. They all bowed to their leader before turning their eyes to Naruto who awkwardly waved at being the center of attention.

"Sup everybody..." said Naruto getting a few waves and a couple sups right back. Naruto then scanned the room and saw a couple familiar faces. _"The Genin in my class who all graduated are here too. Ino's smirking."_ thought Naruto smirking back which got Ino's shoulder to twitch again.

She put together the earlier twitch figuring that's when Naruto first learned of what she did. And now she could feel the revenge he'd get would be so deadly based on his ominous smirk. She shouldn't have played back. Naruto smiled seeing she realized that before looking at Hiruzen. The man merely motioned him to start so Naruto turned to the shinobi gathered.

"...I don't know where to begin so, any questions?"

A wave of hands rose from just about everyone in attendance as Naruto chuckled nervously. Naruto settled on the first hand he saw raise and pointed to the man.

"How did you get the Rinnegan?"

"When Orochimaru beat me in the Forest of Death, the chakra given to me by the Sage of Six Paths when I was a baby was allowed to flow through my body and...bam, Rinnegan," said Naruto watching a few hands drop probably because that was their question too. Naruto picked a random shinobi first because he didn't want to come off bias when he chose someone he knew like, "Kakashi-sensei"

"You picked scarecrow because you're biased." Naruto frowned because he turned to see the purple-haired woman from the second test in the Chunin Exam smirking at him.

"You can go first Anko," said Kakashi getting a smile from the woman before she looked at Naruto.

"Can you remove this shit?" questioned Anko getting Naruto's eyes to widen when she slid her shirt down her shoulder to reveal a curse mark.

 _"She had one too... she was Orochimaru's first student."_ thought Naruto walking over to Anko before putting a palm to her curse mark for a second. Naruto pulled back and the mark was gone. "Yes, yes I can."

Anko blinked at the speed and looked down at where her mark once was and saw nothing but skin looking back at her. Well, not looking back since its skin but whatever, her skin...just her skin was there. Anko had a tear come to her eye before she turned back to Naruto who'd already resettled at the front of the room.

"I owe ya one there kid...thank you."

"Think nothing of it, seriously," said Naruto before looking back at Kakashi.

"What can your eyes do? Everything we know about the Rinnegan was thought to be just fairy tales of the Sage of Six Paths."

"The things you hear in those fairy tales, are all things I can do or will be able to do with my Rinnegan sensei," confirmed Naruto getting Kakashi's lone eye to widen at that. Kakashi then just nodded his head before returning back to the book he was reading. His curiosity was satiated. Naruto then turned back and pointed at another random shinobi he'd never met before. "Yes."

"Can you demonstrate some of it for those of us that don't know about those fairy tales?"

"Yes but this is easier," said Naruto before simply showing everyone a memory.

The memory was of him performing a few techniques atop the mountain during the finals of the Chunin Exams. He didn't show that he had been demonstrating all of that to Ino because that'd just open up another question that didn't need to be asked nor mattered at the moment. He also didn't show all he could do either because some stuff was just better kept to one's self. He pointed to another shinobi allowing them to ask their question after the memory ended.

"Yes."

"How strong are you?"

"How strong...hmm. Well, strength is quantifiable but can be answered relevantly too. Things like I can lift this amount of weight or can withstand this much force is quantifiable strength. And that's something I can't give you because I haven't found out for myself yet," said Naruto a bit sagely before gesturing to Hiruzen. "Relevant strength I can tell you though. Jiji is the strongest one here and I could beat him if we were to fight."

An uproar started at that statement from Naruto. Many in the room thought it to be bold. The only ones that didn't were ones who'd seen Naruto do the things he'd done or actually knew that Naruto's Rinnegan made him nigh impossible to beat. Hiruzen smiled before speaking up to add his two cents.

"Naruto-kun could best me in a fight, no question asked," said Hiruzen getting everyone to calm down at his casual admission of inferiority. "Probably a weird thing to hear from your leader but, it's no debate. Naruto-kun is stronger than me."

"That doesn't really mean anything by the way. I'm not saying I should be Hokage off of that," said Naruto getting everyone to look back at him as he spoke. He was thankful that Hiruzen spoke up himself to keep people from disregarding his words as illusions of grandeur. He didn't need that especially when it was just the truth. "Just because the rook is the strongest piece in shoji, doesn't make it the most important nor does it lead. Jiji is Hokage. Trust me, I'm just a kid. I don't want to lead all of you...yet." continued Naruto getting a few smiles at his 'yet'. He was aiming for Hokage still and it made people happy because that meant he still wanted to be of Konoha. Naruto then turned to one of his friends and pointed to someone he hadn't spoken to since after his first prelim fight. "Sasuke."

"Can you teach me those things you showed in that memory?"

"Yes. You, yes," confirmed Naruto getting Sasuke to nod. Naruto then looked to the people in the room and decided to quell any other question that followed that train of thought. "And if you can find me, I might be able to teach you something too. Don't hold your breath though, Sasuke-teme just has hacks with his eyes."

That got a lot of people to nod because what Naruto did atop that mountain was crazy cool. Some of the Chunin in attendance were definitely itching for maybe a moment with the boy.

"And also, thanks..." said Sasuke having noticed his curse mark was gone just like Anko's.

He'd wondered what happened to it but figured Naruto must have taken it when he was unconscious in the hospital. That thing was poisonous despite the power gain and Sasuke was good to be rid of it before he became addicted. Naruto just shrugged because it was no issue before pointing to the next man, another one he recognized from the Chunin Exams.

"Yo, I don't have a question anymore," said Genma twirling his signature senbon around before smirking. "Just wanted to let you know that... cereal is technically soup."

The room was silent for a very slow five seconds. No one said a word and no one even moved during that span of time. Naruto cracked first though as his lips curled upward and he threw his head back in laughter.

"Cereal is technically soup?! What?! What the fuck kind of timing was that Genma?!" shouted a man with an interesting scar over his nose as everyone in attendance shook their head.

They remembered Naruto asking Genma that question during the first match of the Chunin Exam Finals and like he promised, Genma said he'd let Naruto know what his answer was after it was over. Genma's smirk deepened seeing Naruto hold his stomach and begin to tear up laughing at what he said. It was all the gratification he needed despite everyone else thinking it was ill-advised.

"Hmm, since you added milk to the bowl though..." theorized Kakashi, face still in his book, getting everyone to look at him. "Does that make it a beverage, a broth, or a sauce?"

Naruto stopped laughing at that and looked over to his sensei and contemplated the question. He hadn't thought about potential other things that combination would technically be outside of what most people called it. Because if the milk itself is a drink than that meant...but then again, if the-

"Why are we all thinking about this?! We're supposed to be asking Naruto questions not...not...doing whatever this is..."

"Excellent point. Naruto-kun doesn't have much time nor do we during this meeting I called. Please, ask as many questions as you can because we all have a day to get to," said Hiruzen getting everyone back on track as the questions came flying back at Naruto.

He answered every single one they could get to in the time allotted. But alas, everyone had things to do. Naruto having quite a few himself to get to.

* * *

 _(Unknown Location)_

Pain, the orange-haired Path at least, stood in a darkened area with a woman standing next to him. She had blue hair and beautiful amber eyes as she looked at him with a bit of concern.

"It's been three days since you told him and he hasn't returned?"

"No Konan...Madara hasn't returned. He didn't even speak after I informed him of the news," said Pain looking back at the woman with his usually emotionless face. "Not even Zetsu has returned. Does this news really trouble them that much?"

"It could be possible. The Rinnegan is quite the power. You know that better than anyone," said Konan getting Pain to nod his head before he narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"What the boy said...how his eyes were better integrated than mine..." said Pain looking down at his hands and clenching his fists. "He's right, his eyes are more powerful than mine. I couldn't stop him from stopping me when I should have been able to." continued Pain getting Konan to nod remembering how casual Naruto stopped the extraction. "And then he said that his eyes had been given to him...same as me. Does that mean that these eyes weren't originally mine?"

Well, that was definitely the thought of the day. Naruto had no reason to lie and Pain knew Naruto could see things with his Rinnegan that most people would never be able to. The inner chakra gates, invisible barriers, or even foreign entities within someone's body. It was all revealed to the Rinnegan and that last thing was something Pain never checked himself. You couldn't look at your own eyes directly. A mirror wouldn't tell you the actual story.

He could possibly use a path to confirm what Naruto said by having it look at him. But, he was hesitant. He didn't want Naruto to be right.

So unless Naruto was just saying that to mess with Pain's head, that meant it was true because Naruto knew Pain could just check himself. And if it was true, who the hell's eyes did Pain have in his head? This opened up a can of worms that Pain really didn't want to dig through to find the answer.

"We need to find that boy soon..."

"We've spread the news of his Rinnegan already. The world will be searching high and low for him and giving us his location constantly by proxy," said Konan looking at the powerful eyes in her partner's head. "He'll soon be somewhere we can get to him easily."

Pain just nodded. He needed to beat Naruto as soon as possible. He couldn't give the boy time to grow or else it'd be even more hopeless of defeating him.

 _(Konoha - Same Time)_

"He really does have the Rinnegan..."

A thought said aloud by a figure standing atop the head of the Yondaime Hokage's stone head. A figure who donned the outfit of Akatsuki and had an intriguing orange mask on his face. He stood looking down through the one eyehole in his mask at the yellow-haired boy he was speaking about.

"Uzumaki Naruto...I am not sure how you obtained those eyes..." spoke the man watching Naruto look out the window of the Hokage's office to look at the many citizens who'd gathered outside the window. He watched Naruto wave at their cheers before he shook his head. "It is no concern. Pain has the Rinnegan and can be defeated. It's all a matter of discovering your weaknesses. When I do, I'll rip the Kyubi from your body and complete my plan."

And with his peace said after confirming it for himself, the man slowly began to disappear into a vortex that formed on his body. Naruto was busy waving at the civilians when he perked up and turned his eyes to his father's stone head. He could have sworn he saw the air distorting for a moment and felt a foreign and powerful chakra but, maybe he was just seeing things because he blinked and nothing was there.

"They'll get used to you in no time Naruto-kun. Don't you worry," said Hiruzen walking in his office finally as Naruto turned to see him. "They were the same to me when I became the Hokage and eventually it simmered down."

"It's really no problem. Hagoromo's memories had him go through the same in his day," informed Naruto stepping back around the desk properly as Hiruzen took his normal spot. "This is nothing in comparison."

"Mhmm, well good that you can deal with it somewhat easier than I did. Now, I believe you said you could help me with Fu's situation."

"In a way, I can let you speak with them now rather than send a messenger and wait for them to respond."

"How can you do that?

"Remember how I talked with the actual Rinnegan user back in that cave?" questioned Naruto getting a nod from Hiruzen. He remembered that flashback Naruto showed him yesterday. "Well, we can do the same with Taki."

"Really? That's quite the ability. I'm guessing you'll at least need the coordinates for Takigakure to project me there," said Hiruzen with a smile only to see Naruto frown.

"I already know the coordinates..."

"Huh? How? Takigakure is a very secretive village...their location is one of their most guarded secrets."

"I read Fu's mind."

"Oh, right...forgot about that. Silly me."

"I knew you were getting old Jiji but man..."

"I am getting old sadly, something I'm reminded of every day I wake up and hear my bones creak," said Hiruzen with a smile. It was good to get old. It meant he'd lived a good life and got to see a plethora of things because of it. "But don't think I don't know you also schemed that information from my memories too Naruto-kun."

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a shine come to the man's old eyes.

"I mean...yeah, but like...you know...I didn't mean to take your memories Jiji...it just kind of happened. I'm sorry," apologized Naruto waving his hands in front of his face. "The same thing happened with Hagoromo when he gave me chakra..."

"True except, you gave me chakra and I didn't receive memories. I had mine stolen instead."

"...heh..." Naruto had nothing to say as he looked like a kid who'd been caught doing something bad by their parent. Which actually worked in this scenario since he was a kid and Hiruzen was practically his legal guardian. "I really didn't mean to. It just was there and I wasn't sure if I still wanted to be apart of Konoha if it had a shady past so, I just... I'm sorry."

"I'd have done the same given the circumstances," said Hiruzen offhandedly.

He knew Naruto wouldn't tell anything he wasn't supposed to and he could see the boy really did it just to confirm that Konoha was somewhere he wouldn't mind keeping his allegiance to. Naruto knew how powerful his Rinnegan was and he wouldn't allow its use to be for the wrong people. Hiruzen's memories were second to none in finding that out so, he took his chance. There was some bad but, the good far outweighed it and Naruto was thankful that the old man was exactly who Naruto had looked up to for so many years.

Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when Hiruzen seemed okay with the invasion of privacy. Sure, Naruto could beat Hiruzen in a fight but, you still didn't want to tangle with the man because you wouldn't come out the fight the same way. He also didn't want to ruin his relationship with him for his actions either. Hiruzen merely kept the ball rolling and didn't acknowledge it further as he put on his game face.

"I'm ready now if you want to begin."

"Hai. Gentoshin (Magic Lantern Body)"

In a small wooden hut with the sign for 'Taki' written above its entrance, a man with black eyes and long, dark brown hair stood in the very spartan interior of said hut. He had a shinobi headband with the symbol of Takigakure inscribed on it as he sat meditating.

"Hmm, it's been a while since I was last here."

The man's eyes widened hearing a voice as he didn't even hear anybody enter. When he looked up, all he saw was a rainbow-colored hologram of what looked like the Sandaime Hokage staring back at him. A stare that didn't seem like he was happy to see him.

"Hello Shibuki-kun, it's a pleasure to see you again. So grown up this time."

"Hiruzen-dono... is that really you?" questioned Shibuki getting the hologram to nod. "What brings you...and how are you here?"

"Those are questions. Questions I will answer because when asked a question, it is common courtesy to answer those questions to an _ally_ ," spoke Hiruzen keeping sharp eyes on the current leader of Takigakure. "What brings me here is a need for information and how I'm here is thanks to a very powerful shinobi of mine's abilities. This is one of them." continued Hiruzen before closing his eyes. "Now, I have a question of my own and it's the reason I'm here. I do hope you can answer it for me."

"Of course I can. What is it?"

"How is the Nanabi Jinchuriki doing? Fu, I believe her name was. I haven't seen her since your father introduced her to me all those years ago," spoke Hiruzen opening his eyes to gauge Shibuki's face. It was one that hid his panic well but Hiruzen could spot the minute details after sixty plus years of shinobi living. And it was all Hiruzen needed to see. "Can you tell me how she is?"

"I can't really say. I myself haven't seen Fu in a while," spoke Shibuki while scratching the back of his neck. "Last I checked though, she was in good health and getting stronger every day."

Hiruzen merely looked at Shibuki with stern eyes getting the Taki leader to nearly crack at the stern gaze. A little longer and he would have but, Hiruzen didn't care to see that. He already knew what he needed to know and what he'd heard gave him all the motivation he needed to do what he planned.

"Good, I'm glad to hear," said Hiruzen with a smile that released the tension in the room. "I apologize for dropping in on you like this to ask such a simple question but I'm happy you gave this old man your time. I won't bother you like this again without proper heads up. Enjoy your day Shibuki-kun. And please, contact me should anything change." continued Hiruzen with a curt head bow. "We are allies after all."

"Hai, come any time Hokage-dono," said Shibuki in reply also bowing his head. "Your presence is always welcome."

"Good to know," said Hiruzen before the connection ended and he returned to his body in Konoha. Hiruzen patted Naruto on the head getting Naruto to look up at him as he smiled to his pseudo-grandson. "Thank you, that made that very easy."

"What happened?"

"Don't wanna just read my mind and find out?"

"...Jiji, I said I was sorry..." frowned Naruto getting Hiruzen to smile wider at him.

"I know... try not to abuse your power though Naruto-kun," said Hiruzen getting Naruto to nod before he figured he could answer the boy's question. "Fu won't be returning to Takigakure."

"Did he lie to you?"

"No, but withholding information when I know he allowed Akatsuki to take her is not okay either," said Hiruzen with a sigh. He'd hoped the boy, now man would admit what he did. The two of them may have moved on amicably at that point. But he didn't and so, "I will let Fu know that she's more than welcome to remain here should she choose. Or do whatever it is her heart desires. But despite our alliance with Takigakure, I refuse to allow her to return there. Especially when she doesn't want to return herself."

"Good because her village sucks," said Naruto getting Hiruzen to raise an eyebrow. "The people there treated her the same as me. Way worse though because at least I had a few friends and the mood surrounding me started to change some when my abilities were on display." continued Naruto clenching his fist at the memories he'd gotten from Fu. "Her village knew she was the strongest one there and still treated her poorly. All she wanted was a friend and she couldn't even get that because of them. It looked horrible."

"Sadly, it's how it goes with most jinchuriki," said Hiruzen sadly thinking about it.

"I've noticed. I've met Gaara and now Fu... both of them have been shunned by their village the same as me," said Naruto a bit sad. "That's three for three. I wish I could meet the other six. At least to speak with them about Akatsuki and to maybe become their friend too."

"You can do that you know."

"Huh...Ero-sensei?" questioned Naruto hearing the man's voice before turning to it and seeing the man himself stepping through an open window in the office.

"You can do that. We can go and meet all the Jinchuriki and warn them about the Akatsuki if you want."

"Really?" questioned Naruto getting a nod from Jiraiya. "How?"

"Jiraiya wants to take you on a trip Naruto-kun. A very long trip."

"How long?"

"Just long enough until you can handle all that you need and wish to do," informed Jiraiya getting attentive eyes from Naruto while he spoke. "The Oto stuff, meeting the jinchuriki and seeing the Bijuu again, and hell, even take that Uchiha kid you told you'd train with us so he can get better too." continued Jiraiya with a shrug. "I know the kid is itching to get another shot at his brother after failing the first time. Probably wants to fight you too since you both were rivals for a while. But after that ass-whipping, I'm sure he knows he needs to do a lot more to get better. The same as you if you want to take on all of Akatsuki and every other bad guy in the world."

"...yeah," agreed Naruto looking down. Naruto knew he was plenty strong but, he also knew how strong he could be from Hagoromo's memories. He had a long hill to climb and that trip sounded like something he could use as a good reason to really focus on sharpening his abilities and improving his body. "This would be what, a training trip with side stops for things like Otogakure and the Jinchuriki?"

"Yeah, we could call it that if you want," said Jiraiya watching Naruto contemplate the offer. "You can even bring your little Oto girlfriend. Though I'm sure she's going to come regardless since we'll be tackling Oto. So maybe you can invite your little Jinchuriki girlfriend whose life you saved." continued Jiraiya getting a blush to tint Naruto's cheeks. Jiraiya put a hand to his chin as he rubbed his nonexistent beard to contemplate. "I met her the other day. Pretty just like the Oto one and would probably give you some hero love. Then there's that Yamanaka girl I saw you smirking at when you walked into the conference room. You must be hitting th-"

"Jiji! Can I have a moment to think this over first!" shouted Naruto interrupting Jiraiya as Hiruzen smiled and nodded. "Thanks, bye."

"Heh, the kid may be seen as a god now but," spoke Jiraiya after Naruto vanished with a cherry red face. "At least he's still human."

"Of course. He's still Naruto...just really, really strong. Absurdly even," agreed Hiruzen before smiling too. "But he'll be Naruto-kun regardless."

"Yeah, that's a good thing," said Jiraiya with a content sigh. Jiraiya then had an idea before looking at his teacher. "You wanna spy on the kid? I'm sure he's headed to one of those girls now."

"Of course," said Hiruzen while taking out a crystal ball from his desk drawer. A crystal ball that allowed him to spy on anyone within the walls of Konoha. "It's my favorite pastime. Naruto-kun always has quite the adventures. Even with mundane tasks."

"Pfft, you're just doing it now because the kid took your memories and you want payback."

"Jiraiya, you know me so well."

"Yeah yeah. Just turn that puppy on and let's see what the kid's doing."

 _(With Naruto)_

"Pervert..." said Naruto after arriving in his bedroom only to get whacked across the head the moment he spoke.

"Dammit Shithead, shut up!" shouted Tayuya angrily waving her flute at the downed boy. Glad she kept a hold of it now to bludgeon Naruto for disrupting her again. "It hasn't even been two hours. Shut the hell up!"

"That's it!" shouted Naruto standing up to look at the angry girl sitting atop his bed on her knees. Naruto got face to face with the now growling girl but didn't back down one bit. "This is my damn house! Mine! I pay the bills around here and I'll talk whenever I damn well please!"

Tayuya just continued to growl at Naruto as Naruto narrowed his eyes at her still not backing down.

"Somebody's nuts finally dropped I see."

"I've always had them and they're plenty big! I was just trying to be nice! But no more!" shouted Naruto still not backing down as Tayuya growled a little more.

"Hmmph..." huffed Tayuya eventually turning her head and crossing her arms as Naruto's Rinnegan was too powerful to keep returning his stare. That motion of her crossing her arms caused her chest to jiggle a bit though which Naruto's Rinnegan picked up. Damn girl was still hot and she just had to be wearing skimpy sleepwear, didn't she? Her talking again snapped him out of any perverted thoughts. "You're usually calm as fuck. What crawled up your ass today?"

Naruto frowned because he was angrier than usual. That damn flute did hurt but really, it wasn't enough to make him snap like that. It was probably all the stuff he'd dealt with back to back to back in rapid succession. It was all starting to get to him. He was still just a damn kid after all.

"I have a lot going on and-"

"Rhetorical question dumbass, I don't care," informed Tayuya getting a tic mark to form on Naruto's head.

"Fuck it! I was going to really think this through and probably take you cool places for helping me but, fuck it," said Naruto annoyed that her vulgar language has been rubbing off on him. He'd been cussing more often lately and he'd work on that...eventually, for now though, "Fuck it. Get dressed and pack your stuff. We're going to finish this Oto stuff and then you can do whatever the hell you want."

"Sounds good, I've been bored as hell in this damn place," replied Tayuya getting off Naruto's bed and heading to the closet in his room. She opened it before turning back to see him still there. "I'm not getting dressed with you in here... fucking pervert."

"As if I'd want to watch," said Naruto lying. He did want to watch which was why he hadn't left yet but, Tayuya didn't have the gall or didn't care enough to call him on it. Either way, Naruto continued. "Just hurry up. I'm summoning you in a half hour."

"Whatever shithead..."

Naruto growled in return before vanishing in an Ashura Senku. Arriving in the Hokage's office for the third time today, Naruto looked to see Jiraiya and Hiruzen standing there stiff as boards. Both were looking at him as Hiruzen had his hands behind his back. Weird, but Naruto didn't pay it enough mind to wonder what he was hiding because of Tayuya getting his blood boiling.

"Hey kid, you're back already?"

"Hey Ero-sensei...whenever you can get that trip ready let me know. I'm all abroad," spoke Naruto getting the man to nod his head. Naruto needed a break already and this trip would be that. "Great. I'm going to go tell Sasuke real quick. He'll be coming with us. Also," continued Naruto looking at Hiruzen. "That Oto stuff. I want to do that before we leave if possible."

"Of course, you're still technically on that mission," replied Hiruzen before Naruto then turned to Jiraiya.

"Trip isn't ready now. I'll get it all sorted and let you know when we're ready to roll. Should take me about a week or so to plan the route and all that," informed Jiraiya getting Naruto to nod before he vanished again. Hiruzen and Jiraiya both exhaled a breath as the Kage pulled the crystal ball he'd been spying on Naruto with from behind his back. "Damn kid's teleportation is fast."

"Yes, yes it is. I'm glad he accepted the trip though," said Hiruzen with a smile. "He looked apprehensive at first but, that girl managed to get him to just accept it. Even if he really didn't think about it, it'll be good for him."

"Yeah, yeah it will. Probably good for the world," said Jiraiya looking out the window of the office. "The world knows about him. It'll be good to introduce him to it."

Hiruzen just nodded his head at that. The world indeed did know about Naruto now. Hiruzen had a message from the Daimyo set on his desk this morning confirming he'd heard about the Rinnegan. He wanted to meet Naruto and Hiruzen figured Jiraiya could add him to the travel plans as well.

"Be sure to keep him safe Jiraiya."

"Kid doesn't need protecting but, don't worry, it'll all be gravy sensei."

Hiruzen smiled. It would all be gravy.

 _"Hope you enjoy yourself at least some Naruto-kun."_ thought Hiruzen. _"Don't overextend trying to solve every little problem you both come across. Take time to smell the flowers. I'm sure you'll have plenty of things to do upon your return."_

And with that, Jiraiya and Hiruzen got to their tasks. Jiraiya in setting up the trip and Hiruzen with his Kage duties. They'd reconvene again when the trip was ready. And what a trip it would be.

 _(With Naruto)_

"Sasuke said he was ready to go," said Naruto already confirming that with his teammate. Sasuke had already begun packing despite Naruto telling him it'd take at least a week before they left. "Dude's really ready to get stronger. I like it." continued Naruto before looking up. "Jiji did say Fu could do whatever she wanted. Maybe I'll ask her too. I haven't seen her since I brought her here. I hope she's alright."

Naruto wanted to go at least say hi. Sadly, he didn't have the time. He'd get on it when he returned as the three tomoe of his still weakened Rinnegan began to spin.

"Chikushodo" a rather large poof of smoke puffed into existence next to Naruto.

"I really fucking hate that shit..."

"Yeah yeah," said Naruto hearing the complaint from a dressed and ready to go Tayuya. Naruto multitasked with his summoning as he also brought his Tengu out. Hopping aboard, Naruto turned to the redhead and gestured to his summoning. "Hop on."

"I knew that already shithead," said Tayuya getting Naruto to growl as she boarded the back of the enormous dog-bird hybrid.

"Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama! Naruto-sama!"

Naruto and Tayuya both looked up to see a horde of people rushing them.

"What? I've only been here for maybe thirty seconds..."

"You're a God to them now shithead. People are crazy and I'm surprised they weren't here faster."

"I'm not a god," frowned Naruto before fixing his face with a smile when the people stood a few feet from his Tengu. Naruto gave them a wave. "Hi everyone. I got a bit of stuff to do but, I'll be back soon. So, see you when I return."

The horde of people was sad hearing that news, having hoped to speak with him some. Instead, they just waved because they knew he'd come back. Naruto's Tengu took flight and he and his redheaded companion were flying to the final bit of Oto bases they had left to eradicate.

"So, what's the first one we hitting shithead."

"The southern hideout was next before we got called back...and stop calling me shithead."

"No. You look like a shithead and I call em like I see em," replied Tayuya getting Naruto to turn to her.

"I don't like you..."

"I don't like you either..." reciprocated Tayuya before smirking. "But at least I know you think I'm hot mister baby erection."

Naruto blushed furiously before realizing he'd lost already. There was no win for him here with any reply because he had nothing. So, he just turned around and tried to will the blush off his face. A blush that would actually deepen since Tayuya hugged him and whispered sultrily in his ear.

"What part of my body do you like the most, hmmm shithead-sama..." Tayuya laughed in his ear seeing his blush now cover his entire face eliciting a bigger frown from Naruto.

"...I really don't like you."

It was going to be a long ride to Otogakure.

* * *

 **Pew Pew, that's it for now. Until next time.**

 **-Hamp**


	7. I Don't Like You

**Another. Chapter Seven. Enjoy**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. I can't explain my updating. Go on a hiatus with writer's block and real-world issues keeping me from this site to whatever this is right now with regards to my writing. It's amazing. Imma enjoy it while it lasts. Hope you all are doing the same.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: I Don't Like You**

"You're not that hot."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not."

"Okay, maybe not to some people but," spoke Tayuya smirking at the deadpan stare Naruto was giving her. " _You_ think I'm hot and that's cute. A little boy has a crush on me."

"Don't call me cute..." said Naruto as his Rinnegan's gaze kept Tayuya from pinching his cheek like she wanted to. She wasn't about to treat him like a little kid. He wasn't even that little anymore. "And don't call me little. I'm taller than you."

"I didn't mean your height shithead," said Tayuya looking below Naruto's waist for a moment before looking back up. Naruto's stare didn't change but, red tinted his cheeks showing his flustered state. Seeing his blush made Tayuya actually reach over and tug one of his whiskered cheeks. "It was so adorable. And just so you know, I'm happy I'm your first crush."

"...I don't like you," said Naruto again. He'd said it plenty but, it needed repeating because Tayuya was agitating. Tayuya was forced to remove her hand when Naruto tried to bite it off getting her to laugh. "Words like 'little' and 'adorable' don't need to be used with regards to my... my, you know...my-"

"baby dick. You can call it what it is."

"my dick," growled Naruto before taking a calming breath. He would not continue to be riled up. He was better than this. "I'm still in control of your life here remember. I could tell everyone you tried to kill Sandaime-Jiji. So, just be nice and the rest of this Oto stuff will fly by in a flash. Then we'll be rid of one another since I won't need your help anymore." continued Naruto turning forward while he spoke. "Or don't be nice and I could tell everyone who you really are. They'll lock your vulgar mouthed ass away forever."

"I don't think you'd tell. Actually, I know you won't."

"Pfft, and why is that?"

"Because we both know you don't have balls big enough to-"

"-Fuck it. Figured we could move past that but, nah...whatever," said Naruto getting Tayuya to drape over his back and tug his cheek once again. A blush was on Naruto's face again before he stood with the girl still attached to his back. Tayuya noticed the quick shift in Naruto's demeanor and prepped a question that Naruto answered before she could ask. "We've made it."

"Man that was fast," commented Tayuya before realizing Naruto hadn't started yet. That was weird. He usually just launched some super jutsu to begin their attack on Oto bases. "Oi, shithead... why you stalling? You trying to drop a meteor or something?"

"I could but," replied Naruto getting Tayuya's eyes to widen. He could drop a meteor for real?! And she had the nerve to aggravate this man? Probably not a good idea to _actually_ get on his bad side. A fucking meteor though?! "They surrendered. Look."

And look Tayuya did. She could see a white flag waving from the highest building of Oto's southern hideout. Tayuya just smirked realizing who headed this department. She should have known something like this would happen.

"Heh, little bitch's abilities might have saved her ass."

"The Karin girl?"

"Huh?" Tayuya looked up shocked at hearing that from Naruto. She looked to the boy and rose an eyebrow. "How do you know about her?"

"I stole your teammate's memories."

"Oh, right. I forgot shithead," said Tayuya before smiling. Her hand had stayed on Naruto's cheek this entire time as she tugged it again and pointed down with her other arm. "Let's go! I still want to scare her. I bet she's freaking out right now."

"Hmm, why?"

"I could probably kick her weak ass with my eyes closed and both of my arms restricted," said Tayuya before tugging Naruto's cheek a bit sharper. "That's just me. And now your beefy chakra ass is sitting right above her Oto base. She's probably shitting herself feeling how strong you are." continued Tayuya before tapping Naruto's cheek this time with the back of her hand. "So come on, let's go talk to her. She sucks but she might be useful."

Naruto just nodded before vanishing in an Ashura Senku with the redhead.

 _(Otogakure's Southern Hideout - 2 Minutes Earlier)_

Situated within the Otogakure hideout, a redheaded girl stood tugging on a rope. She was a girl with crimson eyes, fair skin, and her aforementioned red head of hair in an unusual hairstyle; short and spiky on the right side, while longer and straight on the left side. She wore narrow glasses and her outfit is a lavender uniform that exposes her navel, short black shorts, and long black thigh high stockings with black sandals. And right now, she was freaking out from what she could feel coming.

 _"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!"_ thought the girl frantically tugging on the rope.

The rope had a white flag attached to the top of it that she was hastily trying to raise. She would thank her stars she was a sensor and could hopefully surrender before that enormous chakra got here. She'd never felt anything so strong in her life.

 _"Please please please...we surrender...don't kill us."_

The flag raised fully, the girl sat waiting with bated breath that their surrender would be noticed and accepted. There was absolutely no way in the world she could contend with such a power. She could feel the power sitting a few hundred meters above the tower before it was suddenly right in front of her face.

"Hey," greeted Naruto getting the girl to jump back in fright. Naruto's eyes immediately picked up on something interesting. _"Her chakra matches mine somewhat...does that mean she's..."_

"Ah! Don't kill me!" shouted the girl seeing Naruto so close to her now. Naruto snapped out of his thinking to see the girl looking at him fearfully. "I don't want to die..."

"Hahahaha! This is priceless. I told you she was shitting herself shithead," said Tayuya still perched on Naruto's back and smirking at the girl. Tayuya climbed off Naruto, who was now looking around the interior of the hideout, as she walked right up to the other redhead. "How's it going, Karin?"

"Tayu...ya. Is that you?" questioned Karin looking at the other redhead before turning her gaze to Naruto. His chakra levels were so vast that she had yet to find the end of them. _"How strong are you..."_

"Oi, pay attention. Stop marveling at shithead," said Tayuya getting Karin's focus back on her. "Now we might not kill you if you can help me. Where's that crystal using bitch that really stroked off Orochimaru? She comes to this base a lot. Shithead wants to speak with her."

"I...I..." stammered Karin unable to concentrate with Naruto standing so close to her. She hadn't even known Tayuya was with Naruto considering his chakra overshadowed hers entirely. And she couldn't really pay attention with his overwhelming presence so close. But she could try. "You mean Guren-san?"

"No, the other crystal using bitch..." deadpanned Tayuya looking at Karin. Tayuya watched the girl's eyes move from her to Naruto repeatedly. Tayuya turned to see Naruto just scoping out the base as she snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Oi, shithead. Anyway you can turn your chakra down? Tomato here can't concentrate." continued Tayuya getting Naruto to turn to Karin. He saw Karin's still fearful gaze and smiled disarmingly. Karin felt Naruto's chakra vanish entirely as she could hear how loud she'd been breathing. "Thanks shithead. Now, you...tell me where that crystal bitch is."

"Here!" shouted a voice getting everyone's attention. The trio all looked around to see nothing. The only thing was, Naruto found himself encased in a pink crystal that covered his entire body and froze him in place. "Heh, kid's no God."

"Uh duh... wait... shithead," said Tayuya turning to see Naruto trapped within a perfect crystal. That wasn't how this was supposed to go. "Oi, you stupid crystal bitch! Let shithead out."

"Now why would I do that?" questioned no one still until the wall right behind the frozen Naruto began to move forward. The wall shimmered before shattering into hundreds of shards to reveal a light blue-haired woman with a smug smirk on her face. This was Guren, the crystal using bitch as Tayuya so eloquently put. "I just trapped and am about the kill this _God_ who took Orochimaru-sama from me. Why would I let him free?"

"Because if you don't, he might kill you..." said Tayuya getting Guren to laugh as she walked up to Naruto.

"And how is he going to accomplish that trapped like he is. One touch and he'll shatter."

"He's not trapped dumbass."

"Yeah, she's not lying," said Naruto letting out a wave of gravity that shattered Guren's crystal trap getting her to cover up from the pieces flying toward her. Naruto's three tomoe'd Rinnegan looked at the taller girl and she began to panic a bit. "About my being trapped. The killing part though, I don't believe is necessary."

"How...how did you..." tried to speak Guren but it wouldn't come out. In her panic, she placed her hands in the ram seal. A blue lance made of crystal surrounded the girl's forearm before she lunged at Naruto. "I don't care who you are! This is for Orochimaru-sama!"

"I'm sorry..." said Naruto catching the tip of the lance with his palm. Guren looked shocked he caught the sharp end of her lance without it going straight through his hand. "Shurado. I'm sorry I took your master from you." continued Naruto having augmented his body. He increased the augmentation and preceded to crush the girl's lance by tightening his grip. "Just like with another shinobi of his, I can see how much he meant to you and... I'm sorry."

"You're...sorry," said Guren with a few tears coming to her eyes. They were furious tears though as the girl went through another set of hand seals while jumping back to put distance between the two of them. "Shoton: Isshi Komyo (Crystal Style: Arrow of Light)"

"The _Shoton_ kekkai genkai, such a powerful ability and I can see why Orochimaru would have treasured you," said Naruto watching a near invisible to the naked eye prism of crystal form around Guren. The tip of the prism launched a potent and fast beam at Naruto that he absorbed using Gakido. "The same chance I gave to another one of Orochimaru's subordinates, I will give you the same." continued Naruto watching Guren end her attack realizing she wasn't doing anything. The girl fell to her knees and Naruto frowned at the tears he could see. "I'm sorry... please, leave this base. I'm going to destroy it. You have thirty seconds."

Guren looked up at that and could only see genuine sincerity from Naruto. He really was sorry that he took Orochimaru from her. She could see it clear as day on his face. But, it didn't matter because he still took him away. And with that thought, Guren stood before clenching her fists at Naruto.

"I'm going to kill you one day..." said Guren knowing she couldn't now. He didn't bat an eyelash at her strongest attack, she wasn't beating him today. She didn't know anything really about him or what his weaknesses were. But, she'd find them out and on that day, "I'm going to avenge Orochimaru-sama."

Naruto watched Guren take off out of the base and he let out a sigh. Naruto then turned his eyes to Karin to see her still standing there.

"Konoha."

"Huh?"

"When you leave here, go to Konoha..." said Naruto getting the girl to nod her head before turning to leave.

"Wait! That's it shithead?!" questioned Tayuya getting Karin to stop and turn just in case she wasn't allowed to leave.

"Tayuya..." said Naruto calmly holding out his hand. Tayuya looked down at the extended hand before looking back up. She was ready to argue but seeing Naruto's face, she simply put her hand in his while he turned back to Karin. "Go to Konoha. Please. Tell the guards at the gate that your name is Uzumaki Karin and that Uzumaki Naruto asked you to be taken in until I return. Go."

Karin heard the surname and realized why Naruto wanted her to return to Konoha. She was an Uzumaki? She never planned to go to Konoha when he first told her to. She was just going to nod and pretend like she would before running for her life.

Then he called her an Uzumaki. And if Naruto was one too, that made them family somehow. Karin had questions of how Naruto knew who she was when she didn't even know but held them back until they both met one another again in Konoha. She'd actually go now given that reason.

"Shithead..." said Tayuya lowly looking at Naruto's face.

"Everyone else here is a despicable person, correct?"

"Yeah...these are people who did wrong that Orochimaru captured and used for experiments," confirmed Tayuya getting Naruto to nod his head.

"What I thought. I need an outlet right now," said Naruto as three tomoe returned to his eyes at that moment. The boy was back to six again as his chakra amped up twofold. Tayuya could feel the massive difference and watched the tomoe hypnotizingly orbit his pupil. "Iso No Hitotachi (Majestic Attire Sword Stroke)"

Tayuya blinked and found herself and Naruto atop his tengu. She looked to see the phantasm of them arriving there before seeing a shimmering white chakra grow to surround herself and Naruto. Tayuya marveled at how beautiful the chakra looked. It looked like it was coated in diamonds with how it sparkled.

Naruto's Tengu crowed loudly just as the white chakra grew and morphed to surround it like armor. A sword, made of the white chakra, formed in the summon's hand that it gripped before swinging down at the base below it. The sword never came close to striking the base but, its shockwave split it in half rather destructively.

"Seiatsu," said Naruto holding a palm down toward the middle of the split base. A potent gravity blast truly separated the two parts of the base into crushed pieces. A clone then phased into existence before it teleported to the center of the flattened base. "Tenchi Kaijin (Heaven and Earth End in Ashes)" Tayuya watched a massive array spawn from the Naruto clone that managed to cover the ruined base completely. And then it exploded in a burst of fire that rose dozens of feet in the air before dying down. The tomoe in Naruto's eyes stopped circling his pupil as the white chakra surrounding him and his Tengu dissipated. "On to the Eastern Hideout. We're almost finished."

Tayuya's eyes never left the crushed base, now only ash, even as Naruto's tengu began making its way to the next hideout they were to take down. Tayuya looked back to Naruto and saw his eyes lifelessly looking forward. Something was off with him.

 _"What happened shithead...what's got you so moody?"_ thought Tayuya a bit concerned for the powerful boy.

His Rinnegan did give off an emotionless appearance but, Naruto managed to put forth emotion through them with his facial features. Right now though, he wasn't giving off anything. It was honestly scaring Tayuya. It was why she just took his hand and didn't argue further with him back down at the base.

"Oi! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Tayuya was still Tayuya though. And she wasn't having this mopey shit as she tugged Naruto's cheek getting him to turn to her. His Rinnegan was much scarier with the six tomoe but, Tayuya didn't care. "What's got you all pissy shithead? Is it cause of the crystal bitch?"

"Yes, how can-"

"Stop, shut up...I know where this is going," said Tayuya getting Naruto to narrow his eyes at her. Man his stare was bone-chilling but, Tayuya still didn't care. She was going to get this straight with Naruto. "You killed Orochimaru and he meant something to someone so you feel bad, was that what you were going to say?" questioned Tayuya getting Naruto to stop glaring at her. Tayuya took that as confirmation she was right and continued speaking. "So what? You killed Orochimaru. Dude tried to kill your _grandpa_. Feels like ample reason to return the favor."

"Yeah, but I didn't have to kill him. I could have kept him alive-"

"-So he could break out and keep doing the diabolical shit he was doing?"

"...no, so the ones like Guren and Kimimaro could at least have had a moment with him. Or something," said Naruto getting attentive brown eyes from Tayuya. "Who am I to be the executioner of the world's bad people? Going around killing them only makes people like Guren and Kimimaro want revenge." continued Naruto turning his vision down to look at his hands. "I want to bring peace to this world. It was Hagoromo's dream and what he hoped of me when endowing me with his power. And yet, I'm sitting here killing people like Orochimaru, your old teammates, or those two from Akatsuki unceremoniously when there was no need for me too. I could have easily captured them and allowed judicial practices to take place. Maybe their loved ones could have some peace instead of what this is..."

"Shithead..." said Tayuya softly putting a hand to Naruto's cheek and raising his head again to make him look at her. Naruto could see Tayuya giving him a sympathetic look in return before slapping him hard with her other hand. "You sound like a pussy right now." continued Tayuya in the same soft voice despite what she just did. Naruto looked back at her with a red handprint forming on his face as Tayuya shook her head. "You're thinking too much. Who gives a fuck that you killed a bad person doing bad shit? I don't."

"Well, I do. I could have let them live just like I let you live. And we both know you give a fuck about that."

"Not really, if you'd have killed me then I'd just be dead and you'd still be doing this destruction stuff. Just without me here to slap your ass for being a pussy," said Tayuya getting Naruto to raise both eyebrows at her. How she could state that so confidently was crazy to Naruto. "You shouldn't think so hard about this. I never have because it doesn't matter. I don't have some perfect saying for you here that'll make this make sense shithead. There probably isn't one. But I do know, it doesn't matter. You're a ninja...you kill people."

"But-"

"And you're human...you might make a mistake when killing someone. But stop moping about this shit because what's done is done. That shit pisses me off," said Tayuya before poking Naruto in the chest harshly. "If you are going to keep being a pussy though, let me off now. You're a buzzkill like this..."

Naruto just watched Tayuya sit down aboard his tengu having said her peace. Naruto saw her pull her flute out to begin playing melodies from it as Naruto looked up. Maybe Tayuya was right.

The people Naruto had killed probably did have people who loved them. And to those people, Naruto would feel bad for no matter what he did. But, he shouldn't go around letting it affect him like it was. Orochimaru didn't deserve to live nor does his legacy deserve the right to continue remaining in this world. There was no question about that in Naruto's mind.

Tayuya was definitely right about his killing people though. He was a ninja, killing was going to happen. His feeling bad about it didn't change the fact he'd do all of those things again if he were given the opportunity to change it. Or that he wouldn't kill every member of Akatsuki for messing with him and Hagoromo's Bijuu children. Despite that, he wasn't going to stop feeling bad about killing people. No matter how bad they were.

 _"If I don't feel remorseful then I'll be no better than those I've killed._ _"_ thought Naruto with a smile at that. He wouldn't stop feeling bad in these cases. It allowed him to keep his humanity. But, he could at least stop being a bitch about it. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it shithead. You were the same way when you let Kimimaro-teme go," said Tayuya as she stopped playing her flute to look up at Naruto. She rose an eyebrow seeing the ominous look on his face though. "Shithead?"

"I'm not going to stop being a pussy about killing people," said Naruto grabbing Tayuya with his gravity powers before moving her off his Tengu. Naruto held the girl in midair and watched her eyes widen at what he was doing. "And I believe you said to let you off _now_ if I wasn't going to stop. So..."

"Hey Hey Hey! Stop playing shithead," said Tayuya freaking out at being at his complete mercy. She couldn't move due to the unseen force locking her in place as she saw nothing but the ground waiting beneath her. She turned her brown eyes to Naruto and glared at him. "You better not drop me shithead!"

"Or what?"

"... or I'll kick your ass."

"We both know you can't kick my ass. Especially, if you don't survive this," said Naruto with an evil grin that got Tayuya's heart to skip a beat. She could feel he was serious and that was actually scaring her a bit. "And even if you did survive, you'd be in no condition to fight me without months of recovery."

"Shithead..."

"What's my name?"

"..."

"Say it and I'll bring you back..."

"..." Tayuya looked at Naruto and could see him waiting to hear his name. The little bastard was annoying. "Fine, fine...your name is...Na...Na..." spoke Tayuya almost gagging trying to say Naruto's name. "Your name is na...naru-shithead! Hah! Fuck you and drop me pussy!"

Naruto growled before doing as she asked and dropping her. Tayuya fell through the sky while laughing like a mad woman. Her laugh began to die down about halfway to the ground when she realized she was actually plummeting to her death.

"Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say..." said Tayuya beginning to panic as she neared the ground. Yeah, definitely wasn't worth it as she was picking up more speed toward a fatal landing. "Shithead! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" shouted Tayuya bracing herself for impact. "Your name is Naruto alright! Naru-"

"That wasn't so hard now was it?"

Tayuya blinked and found herself settled neatly on the back of Naruto's Tengu. She could see the telltale poof of smoke from a summoning and turned to see Naruto smiling at her. The girl was breathing heavily as she looked at Naruto.

"I don't like you..." said Tayuya settling her rapidly pounding heart as Naruto shrugged.

"I don't like you either," replied Naruto before turning to look at where they were going. "We'll be rid of each other in a few more days. So, don't you-"

Naruto didn't get out what he wanted to say as Tayuya had tackled him and began to tussle with the Rinnegan wielder. She didn't care about what he was saying and if it was up to her, Naruto would be sporting a few bruises and broken bones by the time they got to the next base. Dumbass just dropped her from about a thousand feet above the ground and had the gall to give her his back? She was going to kick his ass.

"Oi, no biting Tayuya. Dammit, ow! Why the fuck are you so strong?!"

Tayuya was kicking his ass any way she could. Godlike powers or not, Naruto was going to feel her wrath for that death scare.

* * *

 _(Konoha)_

Walking around aimlessly, the Nanabi jinchuriki had a perpetual frown on her face. The reason for the frown was very simple. She'd been in the hospital since Naruto brought her to Konoha and this morning she'd been released. Only to find out that the only person she knew outside of the Hokage was gone in first, a meeting, and then 2nd, literally across the world to destroy the remnants of Otogakure.

 _"He could have at least said something, right?"_ thought Fu in her head.

For most people, asking a question in your head wouldn't be met with a response. Fu was a bit different than most people. She had a Bijuu who could try to answer any query she could come up with.

" **He did say something Fu** ," spoke Chomei to her Jinchuriki.

She was happy Fu finally came to speak with her back when Naruto was saving them. Her villagers had Fu believing Chomei was someone Fu should never speak with at all. When all Chomei had wanted was to help Fu from day one to make both their lives more pleasant.

 _"I don't mean on that Bijuu plane thingy Chomei."_ thought Fu in reply while making her way down the street. _"He could have at least been there in person..."_

" **He's a busy boy Fu. He has the man who created me's chakra and eyes,** " rebutted Chomei flapping her mighty wings to stay hovering within Fu's mindscape. " **With his great power, comes great responsibility. There are a lot of problems in the world and with his Rinnegan, I believe he presumes it is his duty to solve them.** "

 _"That's dumb...he's not a god."_

" **Honestly, if he's like Hagoromo-sama...he's the closest thing to one.** "

 _"That's still so stupid though..."_ thought Fu looking around at the people of Konoha. She was happy they were amicable to her, greeting her with a smile and a few older citizens even going so far as to call her pretty. But she could see they were all fanatics of Naruto. _"That has to be so annoying."_

" **Hagoromo-sama didn't mind it.** "

 _"Hagoromo-sama was also born that exalted."_ thought Fu having heard the tale of the man from Chomei in their conversation. _"Naruto was like me. Shunned for most of his life to now, being hailed as a God. That has to be annoying."_ continued Fu with a frown marring her pretty features at all the overheard conversations about Naruto. It was taxing to her and she wasn't even Naruto. _"It's probably why he's not here right now. To get away...even if he won't admit it."_

 **"Hmm, you might be right,** " replied the giant rhinoceros beetle with seven-tails. " **Maybe when he returns we can-** "

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," said Fu having bumped into a boy wearing round sunglasses and a high collar coat. Fu saw he was a shinobi from the headband and could see him blushing for some reason. When he didn't speak, Fu just shrugged before waving goodbye. "Sorry again. See you around shinobi-san."

"..." the boy stood still as ever until Fu was clear out of view. Once she was, the boy merely said two words. "Aburame Shino."

His introducing himself to her was pointless since she was no longer there. The only thing Shino could think about when looking at her was that she was the finest thing he'd ever laid eyes on. The bug user would find out sometime later that Fu was the Jinchuriki of the world's biggest and strongest insect and he would fall in love.

It was only a matter of time until he found out.

 _(With Naruto - One Week Later)_

Seated upon the back of his tengu, Naruto sat meditating on his winged summon while returning to Konoha. Naruto breathed in and out calmly just allowing the wind to lightly breeze around him. He felt good. He felt at peace. He felt like-

"Hey Fishcake," He felt like Tayuya was doing this on purpose now. Agitated, Naruto peeked open one Rinnegan to see Tayuya close enough that the tips of their noses were touching. "So, you were serious right?"

"Yeah, you've been more than helpful," said Naruto looking at the girl with a smile. Tayuya smiled back as Naruto confirmed what she was asking. "Oto's finished enough. There aren't any bases other than Orochimaru's more elusive ones. Probably where his right-hand man Kabuto has gone too. He's a loose end sadly."

"Just like Kimimaro-teme and that crystal bitch."

"Them too but, they aren't too bad," said Naruto looking right back at Tayuya. "Kabuto feels a bit dangerous. I don't know what he can do and no one else does either. That means he's an unknown. And the unknown is to be feared."

"Pfft, as if you're actually worried Fishcake," said Tayuya getting Naruto to raise an eyebrow.

"Fishcake huh? Can't just say Naruto? You did it before."

"No."

"At least you stopped saying Shithead."

"You threw me off this damn thing last time I did," replied Tayuya with an angry glare that Naruto just laughed at. She didn't even really get to fight him for it because after she managed to bite him, he threw her off the Tengu again. She didn't try him a second time when she got summoned back. "Fishcake is where I draw the line. It's equally demeaning mister _maelstrom_. Less vulgar though. Plus, you know you like it."

"Meh, I'll get you to say my real name someday."

"Oh, that sounds a bit sexy Fishcake. Are you trying to come on to me?" questioned Tayuya batting her eyelashes at Naruto. Naruto just frowned at the girl's antics as she smirked at him. "Going to suck not seeing you blow up strongholds."

"Is it now? At first, you said I was scary and now you're going to miss it?"

"A little bit. Not every day you see a fortress get flattened by pure gravity or hit with all five elements at the same time," said Tayuya with a smile. "My favorite was the super robo-fishcake that terminated the Eastern Hideout. He was cool." continued Tayuya before looking at Naruto distastefully. "You didn't have to let that water prick go though. I hate that guy."

"Heh, he was just a captive Tayuya. You knew that and still tried to get me to kill him," said Naruto shaking his head and inadvertently rubbing across Tayuya's nose in the process. He'd forgotten that they were still that close and that meant he just...dammit. Naruto frowned immediately seeing the excitement in Tayuya's eyes. "No...shut up. I wasn't-"

"Fishcake- _kun_ , did you just nuzzle my nose?!" questioned Tayuya chippily getting Naruto's frown to deepen further. He didn't mean to. It was purely an accident because the girl wanted to talk so damn close to him. "You did nuzzle my nose! Awww, do you want a big, juicy kiss from your sweet Tayuya- _chan_? It's much better than nuzzling my nose."

"I don't like you..."

"Aww, you don't mean that. Come here and pucker up. My lips are really _soft_ Fishcake-kun," said Tayuya while slowly leaning her face in with her lips closing in on Naruto's. The ex-Oto ninja grinned a Cheshire smile when Naruto repelled her with gravity off his Tengu again. "Yeah, going to suck not doing that too..."

"Chikushodo," said Naruto summoning Tayuya back as the girl kept grinning at him. Naruto's blush was deep red and covered his entire face. He could feel the damn girl's breath she'd been so close. Why did she have to mess with him so much? "I really, really don't like you."

"I know. And you know that I don't like you either," said Tayuya moving to sit beside Naruto before pulling out her flute. "I don't like you either Fishcake."

The two just calmly made their way back to Konoha to the melodies played by the girl.

 _(Konoha - Several Hours Later)_

Naruto knew the moment he set foot back in Konoha that he'd be bombarded by the denizen that called it home. So, to solve himself of that problem, Naruto just teleported to the Hokage's office. He was glad Hiruzen was still there and could hear Naruto's full debriefing of events passed. Well, see Naruto's full debriefing considering showing a memory was much easier than giving words. Took much less time too.

With that out of the way, Naruto teleported once more back home. It was always comforting to come home and see his place. His place may have sucked but, it was still his damn place and that was nice. Opening his door, Naruto saw everything was how he last left it.

His tiny kitchen was connected to his tiny living room. His tiny living room had his tiny couch. His tiny couch had a Fu sitting on it. And Fu was sitting right in front of his-

"Wait...Fu?" questioned Naruto seeing the girl wave at him. Well, he wasn't expecting that but, it wasn't the worst thing to see sitting on your couch. "They let you out of the hospital already?"

"Yeah, they said I only needed rest after keeping me overnight. I can get that outside of the hospital," said Fu with a bright smile that was infectious because Naruto smiled too. She was supposed to rest in the hospital from her rather drastic injuries because they wanted to monitor them. Naruto was sure of it but, she must have escaped after the first day and stayed away. Naruto hated hospitals too though so he couldn't blame her. "I've been here since then just waiting for you to return. It didn't take much to find out where you lived. People exalt you now if you didn't know."

"I've noticed," said Naruto knowing about his current 'God' status. It was what it was though. "It'll die down soon...hopefully." continued Naruto before looking at Fu. "So, did you make a decision on what you wanted to do?"

"No, not yet. Hokage-sama said I could take all the time I think I need," said Fu with a smile as Naruto nodded. Made sense, whatever she chose to do would be literally life-changing. To become a Konoha kunoichi or live the rest of her days possibly without a village to call home, both were big choices. "I want the opportunity to find out which of the two is better for me first. I kind of like Konoha so far but, I don't know."

"Well, I'd say make that decision for you. I got a bit of a cheat when deciding myself."

"You thought about leaving Konoha?"

"Yeah, my eyes are kind of powerful," said Naruto getting a deadpan stare from Fu at his humility. His eyes were a lot stronger than just 'kind of powerful' and he knew that. "Just wanted to make sure the village I give my allegiance to is one that aligns itself with my own beliefs."

"And you found out Konoha was it?" a nod from Naruto got Fu to nod her head in return. That was in Konoha's favor. If Naruto wouldn't mind staying despite being who he was, then that meant Konoha probably was the place to be. Fu wouldn't make her decision off of that though. "So, you've been gone for a week?"

"Yeah, I was taking out a few bases is all."

"One of my bases." Naruto and Fu perked up at the new voice and turned to his doorway. Standing there, Karin stood looking at Naruto. She saw the question on his face and she answered it easily. "I would have knocked but, the door was already open."

"Hmm, I didn't close it because I saw Fu..." said Naruto thinking out loud before smiling at Karin. "I see you made it!"

"Yeah, I had a guard this whole time though."

"Who?"

"Me! And about those bases, you were doing the damn thing kiddo!" came a shout from Naruto's window that got everyone's attention. The three turned to see Jiraiya sitting there with a grin on his face. "Welcome back Naruto- _sama._ "

"...no," said Naruto with a frown at the sama. He wasn't hearing that from people like Jiraiya. "Don't do that. Even as a joke, no..."

"Aw what? That other redhead calls you shithead and I can't call you _sama_ jokily?" questioned Jiraiya crossing his arms. "That's sexist gaki."

"I don't care. And she doesn't call me shithead anymore."

"Really? How'd you do it? She still calls me dumbass every time she sees me."

"Because you're a dumbass," said the girl the two were speaking of.

Naruto was getting tired of people just busting in his home. Especially Tayuya because she'd kicked his door off its hinges with her entrance. She didn't even have to kick the door down considering Karin hadn't closed it. Naruto would have called her on it but, he was currently fearing for his life based on her facial expression.

"And you, Fishcake! Why the fuck did you leave me? I had to walk through your stupid cult asking me stupid questions about where you were. That shit was annoying..." growled Tayuya stalking toward Naruto slowly.

"Hey...hey now. Stay back...stay back I say. You and me are done dammit! Why do I have to teleport you places still?" questioned Naruto with a black rod sliding out of his sleeve to defend himself when she lunged at him. It was no use though as Tayuya managed to tackle Naruto and wrestle him to the ground. "Oi! Stop trying to bite me dammit! That shit hurt last time!"

Naruto and Tayuya were a mess of limbs as she assaulted Naruto in his own home. Really smart of her because Naruto couldn't really launch her off of him because he could potentially damage his own stuff. That was a no go and gave Tayuya free reign to physically abuse the jinchuriki.

Jiraiya, Karin, and Fu were simply watching the interaction before the Sannin pulled out a notepad. Karin's focus was on Naruto slowly losing the struggle for dominance against Tayuya. Fu stopped watching due to her curiosity of what Jiraiya could be writing but, he wasn't allowing her to see as he just giggled to himself.

"This is good. This is so good," said Jiraiya with a drip of blood coming from his nose. "Oh, this is so good. Kid, you're such an inspiration. Kid's got three in his house not even five minutes back home." continued Jiraiya before looking at Fu to see her reaction. She clearly didn't get what he really meant and that was a good thing. And now that he thought of it, Jiraiya figured why not ask because he was sure the kid had already forgotten. "Hey, the kid is going on a training trip soon. I was here to tell him it'll take another week and some change to get the route all mapped out. Being a 'God' made him pretty popular and there are numerous requests to meet him. He was going to ask if you wanted to come with."

"A training trip? How long?"

"However long it takes the kid to do what he wants to do."

"Who's all coming?"

"Gaki, me, and one of the kid's teammates are the only ones confirmed," said Jiraiya seeing the contemplative look on Fu's face. "It'll be better than sitting around Konoha. Plus, it'll help you decide what you want to do by experiencing more of the world!"

"I really don't have anything else to do," said Fu before shrugging. She'd planned to stay close to Naruto anyway. It was why she'd spent the week in his home waiting for his return. So, why not go on a globetrotting trip with the guy who saved her life? "You said a week?"

"Yeah and some change. Whenever I can get us all ready to go then we'll head out."

"Okay, I'll be ready then. I'm in."

Jiraiya just nodded before seeing Naruto yell indignantly.

"No, Never! Your flute does not go there!"

"It's going there today! Spread those legs Fishcake!"

"Fine, you want to play that game," said Naruto before vanishing. Tayuya growled at Naruto disappearing only to find out he didn't go far. He was settled right behind her with his hands in the tiger seal. Hands that were closing in on Tayuya's backside. "Word to Kakashi-sensei. Sennen Goroshi (One Thousand Years of Death)"

It need not be said what Naruto just did. Karin and Fu both gasped at the boy's audacity. Jiraiya just began rapidly writing more in his notepad and repeatedly calling Naruto his 'newest muse'. Tayuya's face was a deeper red than her hair before she was rocketed off his fingers right into his bedroom. She landed with an audible thud that got Fu and Karin to cringe at how painful it sounded.

Naruto held his pose from his latest action before standing abruptly. He waited a second before looking over at the others currently invading his home.

"So, I'm going M.I.A. for the night..." said Naruto feeling a goosebump-inducing wave of killing intent wash over the area. It was coming from his bedroom and Naruto knew it was directed all at him. "I'll be back soon Fu. Something I wanna ask you. And Karin, we'll talk soon too. Sorry to just keep leaving but, ciao."

"FISHCAKE!"

Naruto vanished in an Ashura Senku just as Tayuya came out of the living room with an absolutely livid look in her brown eyes. She was nearly foaming at the mouth looking for him before turning to the other three.

"That. Didn't. Happen. Got it?!" questioned Tayuya dangerously getting the other three to just nod at that.

Tayuya then stalked off in hunt of Naruto whilst holding her backside tenderly. He was so going to pay. Jiraiya just sat there smiling before returning back to his notepad.

"This training trip with the kid is going to be epic. There's never a dull moment with that brat," said Jiraiya smiling at all he'd written from that small exchange.

He couldn't wait to see all he'd be able to write on their training trip. It was going to be so good. There was no doubt in the Sannin's mind as he headed off to get back busy setting it up. Jiraiya was ready to hit the road.

 _"Bet the kid is ready to roll too."_

And with that thought, Jiraiya would make haste in ensuring everything was set up. Time to introduce the world to Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

 **And yeah. Hope you enjoyed.**

 **-Hamp**


	8. I'm Coming Too!

**Yo! Chapter Eight. Enjoy**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Merry Christmas peeps.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: I'm Coming Too!**

"Oh, is that so Naruto-sama?!"

"Yes baa-san! Cereal _is_ technically soup."

A conversation between Naruto and an elder woman walking arms linked through the streets of Konoha. Naruto holding her groceries in his free hand.

"Play ninja with us Naruto-sama!"

"Only if you can catch me!"

Across the street was another Naruto. He was being chased by a gaggle of kids with an irritated Umino Iruka following behind them. Iruka being the kids' teacher at the academy. They were supposed to go to the library today but, a kid spotted a Naruto clone and well, now they weren't going to make it to the library. Naruto was still disrupting his class even after graduating.

"Ram, ox, and tiger? Mold my chakra and blow?"

"Yes, you'll need a lot of chakra for it so really pull up a lot."

A third Naruto standing in a training ground with a group of chunin. One of the chunin stood in front of the others running through the hand seals. The ninja proceeded to launch a decent-sized fireball and pump his fist in victory afterward.

"Hmmm, is this not annoying Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, you have no clue Ino-chan."

Seated atop a couple of boxes near some orange flowers, the real Naruto could be found with his eyes closed and a vein throbbing on his forehead. Out and about the day following his return to Konoha, Naruto was still the most popular person in his home. Good thing he was a master of the Kage Bunshin technique. He could get around to more people at one time.

While his clones were doing their thing, Naruto made his own way to see what Ino was doing. He remembered wanting to do something nice for her and decided today wouldn't be a bad idea to accomplish that. He found her working the counter at her family's flower shop.

Sadly though, since Naruto was doing the clone spam to deal with the citizens/shinobi, he couldn't give her his full attention. He had forgotten to tell his clones to turn their Rinnegans off. Not that they would have if he did which meant, mental feedback was a bitch.

"Can you describe what it's like?" questioned Ino turning sea foam eyes to Naruto. There was no one in the store right now so the blond kunoichi focused her attention on the meditating boy beside her. "The vein on your head is pulsating. It looks painful."

"Well, it's like you're sitting in a dark room," said Naruto managing to speak calmly despite the pained expression he currently had. He looked to be in serious anguish but, his voice betrayed that thought. "And say in this room, you're watching televisions. 38 of them for me currently. And say all of them are on separate channels that look really, really 3-D. That's about as best as I can describe it."

"Yikes. You're not overloading your eyes are you? You only have six tomoe right now."

Naruto peeked open an eye to see Ino had turned to him fully while she stood behind the register. Naruto smiled at the floral apron she was wearing as the girl looked like, well, a girl. It's weird to think that probably considering Ino was a girl.

But Ino was also a kunoichi. That kunoichi title usually took away the 'girl' aspect of any girl. Anybody that could kill you was not to be defined as a 'girl' by societal standards. But, Ino somehow blended it in seamlessly and Naruto thought that was quite the chameleon ability.

"It's not that bad at the current clone amount," said Naruto with a smile. Naruto closed his eyes to refocus but kept up the conversation with Ino. "No worries, I should be back to full power soon. Which means I could handle even more clones. I'll be everywhere then."

"Hehe, I'm sure the villagers will love that. Their _god_ is even more _omnipresent_ ," commented Ino watching Naruto frown. Ino giggled seeing his frown at realizing he was just going to keep enabling that god title accidentally. Ino stopped laughing when she began wondering something. "Since you were at three tomoe, does that mean you used a really strong jutsu?" A nod from Naruto answered her question as she peeked to the door. Ino saw no one still so she turned back to Naruto. His answer to her question only created another question. "What jutsu was it?

"It was two actually, three tomoe lost on each one. The first was a far-traveling Ashura Senku. It'll zap my vitality if I travel too far with it," said Naruto feeling a bit less strain now that some of his clones were dispersing. They weren't meant to spend all day with people. But, he did want to at least say something. He sort of promised he would right before leaving to handle Oto. "The second one was that destroying souls thing I told you about."

"The Shun Goku?"

"Yes, but like, way more powerful," said Naruto with a small laugh. Mainly because it not only weakened his eyes, but it put him out of commission for two days. That was indeed 'way more powerful' than the regular one. "You wanna see what it looks like?" Ino rapidly nodded her head, not that Naruto could see, but he already knew she did so, "Be wary...you'll feel what I felt."

Ino just took a calming breath before nodding her head once more. Naruto peeked open an eye before ensnaring her in a flashback. And like Naruto warned, Ino saw and felt it all through the eyes of Naruto himself. Teleporting to the cave, saving Fu, blowing up the cave, the shin shun that destroyed Hidan, and finally ripping out Kakazu's soul. All of that flashed through Ino's head in a second and she bristled at the quick flashback.

"Wow Naruto-kun, how does-"

"Only that much for this sir?" Ino quieted down immediately hearing a different voice other than Naruto's.

"Yes, that's how much this particular flower costs," spoke Naruto standing at the counter speaking with the customer. Did she pass out after Naruto showed her that memory? "Be careful though, it's not the most durable flower. It'll need lots of love and attention."

The man Naruto was talking to looked at the flower before shrugging. It wasn't for him anyway but, he could pass along the knowledge.

"Thanks for shopping here at Yamanaka's Flower Shop! Come back soon!" shouted Naruto with a wave getting a wave back. Naruto watched the man head out before turning to Ino. "You okay Ino-chan?"

Ino blinked at that and looked to see a makeshift bed, consisting of a pillow and thin blanket, was what she was laying on. Confused, Ino stood up from behind the counter and watched the customer leave out the flower shop. She turned to Naruto and saw him wearing her apron. Ino smirked at that but, still wanted to know what happened.

"You passed out after the memory. It was a bit strong like I said," explained Naruto with a sheepish grin. Naruto took the apron off himself before placing it back on Ino with a smile at the girl. "Sorry about that. It's been about thirty minutes. I took over for you while you were out."

"Thanks and wow, thirty minutes?" questioned Ino getting a nod from Naruto. Ino just scratched her head at that news before freezing. When she scratched her head, a sparkle caught her eye from her wrist. _"What the..."_ thought Ino bringing down her arm to see a black, beaded bracelet on her wrist. It was made of some black metal that shined beautifully and on the end of it was a magatama bead colored violet. Ino looked up to see Naruto smiling and figured it was from him. "Is this from you?"

She still had to ask though. Who didn't ask in that same scenario?

"Yeah, I remembered thinking after the funeral that I was going to do something nice for you," said Naruto with a smile as his eyes glowed. Ino rose both eyebrows at that as Naruto shrugged. "Think nothing of it. I was just really down on myself but, you got me out of that funk with ease. So, that's just a thanks."

"Wow...uhh, thanks Naruto-kun," spoke Ino looking down at the pretty bracelet. _"It's so pretty..."_ thought Ino looking back up at Naruto. She gave him a small hug that he was prepared for. "Thank you but, you didn't have to do that."

"I know..." replied Naruto hugging Ino back before ending it. "I just felt it'd be helpful to you though. It's a bit special there Ino-chan." continued Naruto intertwining his hand with Ino's. Looking back at Naruto, Ino saw the tomoe in his eyes orbiting his pupils hypnotically. She couldn't help the blush that heated up her cheeks. Holding his larger hand and then seeing his pretty eyes staring only at her managed to fluster the girl a bit. "Channel chakra through it."

Ino stared into Naruto's powerful eyes for a few seconds longer before realizing he asked her to do something. Channeling chakra through her new bracelet, Ino found herself in a place only viewable through her family's signature jutsu. She was in Naruto's psyche looking back at herself. Which was weird because she was still looking at Naruto too. That wasn't her family's jutsu but, it felt uncannily like it.

"Like a dark room but, it's like you're watching televisions. Not 38 but, two is pretty cool."

"Naruto-kun... isn't this the Shintenshin (Mind Body Switch)."

"Yeah...your signature jutsu was probably the first choice," said Naruto removing his hand from Ino's and getting her view to turn back to regular. She no longer could see through Naruto's eyes. "Doesn't mean it's the only one. Try a different mind technique."

"A different one? Well, I'm glad Tou-chan just taught me this one because it's only the second one I've learned," said Ino before placing her hand on Naruto's head. Ruffling his hair made Naruto give Ino a glare. She smiled before channeling chakra and mentally thinking of the jutsu she wanted to use. _" Saiko Denshin (Psycho Mind Transmission)"_

Just like the first, Ino found herself immediately in her technique. Right before her was a giant scroll that went along with how her jutsu worked. She could view Naruto's memories by simply unraveling the scroll before her.

"Go ahead." Ino turned to see Naruto there nodding his head. "It's fine."

Ino nodded back before holding her hands out. Turning to it, the scroll began to unravel itself as one of Naruto's memories showed itself to the kunoichi. It was him sitting atop his bed with Ino's bracelet in his hands.

 _Hi Ino-chan! Just got finished with this thing_

Ino watched the 'memory Naruto' hold the jewelry up in his hand before channeling chakra in it. The purple magatama bead glowed vibrantly as Naruto smiled. He then turned back, almost like he knew he'd be talking to her and continued speaking.

 _This bracelet was made by me with that In'yoton (Yin-Yang Release)_ _thing I was talking about. The one Hagoromo used to create the nine Bijuu and his ninja tools. And I made this one for you! It's infused with Ningendo which you should find really helpful. It should make all of your mind techniques much easier to use. Hope you like it_

The memory ended and Ino was stunned at that. Not only did Naruto give her a really pretty bracelet, but he also gave her something that would really enhance her main abilities. And he made it feel like it was nothing for him to do it. Naruto was too incredible for his own good. She would never call him a God but, he made it hard not to.

"You can't snatch souls or anything like the path can but, I hope you still like it," said Naruto getting a rapid nod from Ino before his eyes widened when a memory began to play. Ino wanted to give Naruto another hug until a horrible noise reached her ears. Ino turned back and her mouth hung open at what was playing. Naruto was panicking though. "Oh, no..."

 _To impress a chick: helicopter di-_

"Nope!" shouted Naruto removing Ino from his mind immediately.

"Na...Naruto-kun. Was that you singing in the shower? And swinging your-"

"Bye Ino-chan! Hope you enjoy your gift!" shouted a red-faced Naruto vanishing in an Ashura Senku.

She would enjoy her gift. Both of them actually. The bracelet was the better of the two but, Ino would keep thinking of the other one. An accidental gift it was. She'd seen a nude Naruto, singing some ridiculous song, and following along with the lyrics. Ino put out her pointer finger before spinning it in a circle to mimic what Naruto did.

"It was a bit bigger than my finger."

Ino giggled at that before admiring her bracelet and continuing to man her family's shop. This was such a great start to her day.

 _(With Naruto)_

Face still red, Naruto landed atop his father's stone head quite miffed. Not only did Ino see him in the buff, but she saw him doing something stupid that Jiraiya had told him. One of those things you hear from an older dude and you write it off when they say it, but eventually try out.

 _"Helicopter dick...that's the one you chose to mess with me with?"_ questioned Naruto as he heard a deep belly laugh reverb across his mind.

 **"Helicopter Dick, Helicopter Dick...to impress a chick, do the helicopter dick,"** sung Kurama in Naruto's head as the boy in question appeared before the massive fox. Kurama turned to look at Naruto and saw him glaring at him. **"You know it was funny."**

Naruto kept glaring at the massive fox before his lip twitched upward. He'd give it to the fox. That was pretty funny. Kurama should know that Naruto wouldn't allow it to end like that though. No one got one over on Naruto and got away with it. He would have his revenge.

"Did you do that because you want to talk to me finally?"

 **"No...I don't want to talk to you."**

"Okay, so you did it to be a prick?"

 **"Sort of...and because I wanted your attention while I spoke some thoughts I've been having. If you can relate, then it is what it is,"** said Kurama resting his head down on his paws to look at Naruto. Seeing the boy tilt his head curiously, Kurama continued speaking. **"I don't like you still. But, I'm glad you finally realize you aren't the man who created me,"** informed Kurama getting Naruto to nod. He definitely wasn't Hagoromo and Kurama had been right the whole time. He felt bad for taking so long to realize it himself. **"It seems that you possess some of his compassion though. You really aim to set me and my brethren free?"**

"Yes. This whole Jinchuriki thing feels like a failure."

 **"And you aim to correct that on your travels?"**

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to correct them. The thing I needed to do it is currently linked with that Pain guy," said Naruto thinking of the Gedo Mazo.

If he could get the statue, he wouldn't have to keep Kurama trapped within him. He could place the Gedo Mazo there and take Kurama out of his gut to roam free once more. It was what the fox wanted since its capture and sealing by Hashirama and his wife, Mito.

Naruto also figured that if Kurama felt that way, who's to say that the others like him didn't share that sentiment? Naruto wouldn't take them if they didn't want to go. But, those that did would be coming with him. He just needed the Gedo Mazo and its life force to ensure the hosts' wouldn't die during the extraction. That was his only obstacle.

"Once I find this Pain. I'll ruin his connection to the Gedo Mazo and seal it within myself," said Naruto with his eyes glowering at Kurama. Kurama ignored the warm feelings he could feel bubbling up. Naruto's words and his demeanor were getting to the bijuu. "After that, I'll be able to accomplish that goal. You'll be free of me and anyone else for as long as I live. It's a promise."

Kurama loved what he was hearing. He didn't show it externally. Didn't want Naruto thinking he was allowed to converse with him because of what he _planned_ to do. Kurama wouldn't give any cordiality until the boy actually did it.

 _ **"Maybe...kid is still annoying."**_ thought Kurama remembering what he'd seen of Naruto's life. Granted, he was much better now with Hagoromo's power. Kurama would give him that but, he made no promises of being friendly just because Naruto was freeing him. He'd already been free and getting Naruto to release him, only put them at maybe even for what he'd gone through. **"I'll be waiting for you to make good on your promise."**

"Will do Kurama-kun..." said Naruto before his mind shifted a bit. Kurama's eyes widened when he realized what Naruto was doing. "Payback for earlier. Later Kurama."

 **"You didn't bring him back-"**

Kurama didn't get out what he wanted to say as an enormous toad crushed him. Naruto had changed his mindscape to the moment the Yondaime arrived to stop his rampage on Naruto's birth. He was about to be forced to live through that moment again? Naruto was officially annoying.

He and Naruto would never speak. Kurama did have to admit it was a bit funny though.

 **"Heh, good one kid..."**

* * *

 _(Hokage's Office)_

"Hokage-sama, an Uzumaki Karin is here to meet with you."

"Ah, yes... send her in," spoke Hiruzen setting down the paper he was looking at. Standing up and smoothing out his clothes, Hiruzen waited for a few seconds until Karin walked her way in. "Karin, a pleasure to see you again."

"Hello Hokage-sama," greeted Karin before surprising Hiruzen. "I would like to become a Konoha shinobi."

"Really? Are you sure?" questioned Hiruzen looking at the girl with a raised eyebrow. He saw her nod with a smile and Hiruzen couldn't help but ask. "If I may ask, what made you come to that decision so fast? I only asked two days ago."

"My cousin came back yesterday," said Karin with a smile that got Hiruzen to understand.

 _"That Naruto...he must have talked with her yesterday when he returned."_ thought Hiruzen giving Karin a warm smile. "Well, that is good. You'll have to give me a day to set things up. I have the perfect place for you."

"You do?"

"I'd figured you might say yes and based on your abilities, yes."

"The Barrier Team?" Karin saying that got Hiruzen to raise another eyebrow at the girl. "Naruto said that'd be the easiest fit for a sensor like me."

"I would think Naruto-kun is right. Wouldn't you?" questioned Hiruzen back. "The Kagura Shingan (Mind's Eye of the Kagura) is a special sensory ability found solely in the Uzumaki Clan. They were the best sensors in the world and I believe you'll grow to be one of them. Something like that could be very valuable to the village." continued Hiruzen before shaking his head. "Do not think that because I can recognize your abilities that I only allow you entry to Konoha because of that. You could be a civilian if you choose. Or choose to leave if you want."

Karin was touched that Hiruzen felt that way. She'd felt a bit weird hearing him speak so highly of her sensory capabilities and what they'd do for Konoha. And then he went and said that even if she didn't have her sensing ability, that she'd have still been given a home here. Naruto probably would have ensured it being related to her in some way. At least that's the vibe she got from him after they conversated last night.

"Thank you for the option but, I'm perfectly fine being a ninja still."

"I'm glad to hear. Please, return tomorrow and I should have everything set up," said Hiruzen seeing his assistant at the door. "I believe my Ten O'clock is here. Have a good day Karin."

"Thank you Hokage-sama."

Karin turned to leave and her eyes widened seeing who was walking in. A dark-haired boy her age was walking in that looked incredibly good to Karin. He noticed her stare and blush which caused her face to redden even more.

"Hey."

"Hey..." replied Karin watching the boy walk in pass her and greet the Hokage. She heard his name when Hiruzen greeted him and cemented it in her memory forever. _"Sasuke"_

She was liking Konoha way more now.

 _(Sometime Later)_

"Ohayo!"

"Ohayo! Welcome to Ichiraku's. My name is Ayame-"

"Hi Ayame-chan."

The brown-haired girl, Ayame, blinked hearing her name spoken so familiarly. She opened her eyes and her eyes lit up at who was at her restaurant.

"Oh, it's Naruto- _sama_ ," said Ayame smiling when Naruto frowned. "I'm just kidding Naruto-kun. I know you probably hate that huh?"

"You have no clue Ayame-chan," said Naruto before gesturing to his left. Ayame didn't even see the person Naruto had walked up with. A tanned girl with an interesting aesthetic due to her mint green hair and orange eyes. "Ayame-chan, this is Fu. Fu, this is Ichiraku Ayame. Fu's a kunoichi and Ayame-chan is one-third of Kami's Gift to mankind."

"One-third?"

"Yes Fu-chan. She takes the order. Ji-san in the back cooks it which makes him the second third. And finally," said Naruto as his Rinnegan was replaced with comical hearts. Naruto sighed like a romantic just thinking of it. "Then comes the best part. The final third, Ramen."

"I rather like being apart of Kami's Gift to mankind," said Ayame with a smile before whipping out a notepad. "Your usual Naruto-kun?" questioned Ayame getting Naruto to sigh romantically again. She took that as a yes before turning to Fu. "Can I get you anything?"

"I've never actually had ramen before so," said Fu getting Naruto to stop daydreaming about Ramen. He watched Fu point at him before shrugging. "I'll just have what he's having."

"Alrighty, two Narutos coming up then."

"Wait...not only does she know your order, but your order is named after you?" questioned Fu as Ayame left to give their order to the chef.

"Yeah, I think I'm roughly ten percent of their sales since I started coming here five years ago."

"Wow, you must really love ramen."

"It's from Kami...I have to," said Naruto with another romantic sigh. Fu laughed at how much he seemed to love this food and couldn't wait to try it herself. That was until she noticed something that got her to frown. Naruto felt her frown and turned to see what was wrong. "What is it Fu? You alright?"

"Yeah, it's just..." said Fu looking pass Naruto. Naruto turned to see what she was looking at and quirked an eyebrow. "That guy has been following me ever since I met him."

"That guy?"

"Yeah."

"No way...that's Shino. He doesn't bug anybody," said Naruto internally laughing at his pun. _Bug_ anybody and Shino was a _bug_ lover. Naruto cracks himself up. "Wait..." There was no way. Looking at Fu and realizing who she was, Naruto couldn't fathom that being the case. "There's no way he could know..."

"His name is Shino? He hasn't spoken a word to me in the three times I've seen him," said Fu looking back to Naruto. She could feel Shino hadn't moved and stopped caring. It was the same thing he did the other two times. "What do you mean there's no way he could know?"

"Shino is an Aburame. They're a clan of bug users Fu," said Naruto getting Fu to tilt her head curiously. "You have Chomei-chan within you. The biggest and baddest bug on the planet."

"Oh...OH!"

"Yes oh," said Naruto with a smile. "He's harmless for the most part but, I'm sure he subconsciously knows somehow and is now infatuated with you." continued Naruto before smirking. "I'm going to tell him about Chomei."

"What? No, please don't. I don't want anyone knowing."

"Aw really? I've never seen that guy so much as blink. Knowing about Chomei would probably have him bursting with emotion and I need to see that."

"No, please..." begged Fu getting Naruto to frown.

"Fine, I won't tell your secret..." said Naruto before turning back to Shino. Naruto waved to the boy and got a head nod in return. Despite his location being known, Shino didn't move from his stalking. "Hopefully he realizes that the stalking might get a bit creepy."

"I don't mind it. It's not like he's doing anything other than looking," said Fu with a shrug. "Looking is free. Touching will cost you."

"You've been hanging out with Jiraiya haven't you..."

"He might actually be a sage, his words stick with you..." said Fu before seeing Naruto's nostrils widen.

"Ramen!" shouted Naruto turning to see Ayame with a piping hot bowl for him. That bowl was in front of the other eight bowls that came with his order. Nine bowls of each flavor of ramen that Ichiraku's offered. The nine-tailed jinchuriki would laugh at the symbolism some other time. "It's time to eat. Itadakimasu!"

Fu watched with a hint of disgust and mostly fascination as Naruto pigged out on the bowls before him. He'd just started but was already on bowl number three within the first minute. It was like he was inhaling the stuff with how fast he was putting it down. Fu saw her own nine bowls settled before her and decided she might as well dig in too.

"Itadakimasu!" shouted Fu before taking her first bite.

And like the weirdest thing happened. It felt like she could feel every nerve in her body and all of them were being wrapped up in a warm hug. It was the craziest feeling ever that disappeared the moment she swallowed the ramen she'd put in her mouth.

"Every bite is like that." Fu heard Naruto in between his gulping down the broth of his fourth bowl and saw him move to his fifth. "Kami's gift...Kami's...gift."

Fu just nodded her head. That was literally the best thing she'd ever had. It tasted sooo~o good! And she couldn't stop herself from pigging out just like Naruto.

Who knew a Jinchuriki was not only the host to a very powerful Bijuu but also a lover of Ramen? If Naruto and Fu were the only Jinchuriki you used, then that statement was 100% the truth.

 _(That Night)_

"It's such a beautiful night..."

Words spoke by Naruto while standing at the end of a dock. A dock that oversaw a lake. Naruto could see his breath in front of his face as he stood calmly taking in the night air.

It was so peaceful. Granted, his day had been hectic since the morning with his clone usage. He'd probably have to do that every day until the day he left but, it'd be alright. Naruto didn't mind it that much.

"I do hope it stops soon..." said Naruto with a sigh. It probably wouldn't but, the boy could hope. At least in a week's time, he'd be on the road traveling the world. "The world is probably going to do the same as Konoha. There have already been some people trying to storm the gate and meet me."

Who knew the Rinnegan was so popular? Naruto did because Hagoromo was treated like a deity back in his day. And that was mostly because of his fabled eyes. It was what it was though.

"I'll be numb to it soon enough," said Naruto before the tomoe in his eyes began to swirl. "Think it's time I did this though. Hope you haven't removed that yet... Chikushodo"

Singing a lovely tune to herself, Ino was feeling so good and warm. She'd had a relatively great day and that was something of itself. A great day was hard to come by. And then it was utterly ruined when a giant visual of Naruto's eyes flashed in her head. She was confused by it because the next moment, she found herself looking directly at him.

"Naruto...kun?"

She didn't know that Naruto was on the edge of a dock and he'd summoned her above a lake. She splashed into the frigid cold water helplessly. Weirdly though, Naruto wasn't laughing like he should have been. He'd just gotten pretty good revenge on Ino by dunking her in cold water so unceremoniously.

Naruto wasn't laughing though because Ino was naked. Her feeling good and warm earlier was due to her being in the shower. And Naruto happened to summon a very naked and suds covered Ino. The girl fell pretty fast into the lake but, Naruto's Rinnegan caught all of what made her a _her_ and a blush rose to his cheeks.

"Oops," said Naruto creating a clone. "Yeah, summon her home..." The clone vanished in an Ashura Senku. Naruto watched Ino pop her head up out of the cold lake and turn to him. "Well, payback's a...nah, I didn't mean for you to be...my bad..."

"This was your revenge?! Oh, it is so on now Naruto- _kun_!" shouted Ino making her way out of the lake. She must have been very comfortable in her skin because she didn't cover up at all when stepping out. Naruto put up placating hands when he saw Ino punching into her own palm. "You're going to get it-"

With a poof, Naruto was saved. For now at least.

"I hope Ero-sensei hurries up with that trip..."

He was already avoiding Tayuya. Now, Ino was added on to that list.

 _(One Week Later)_

"Where the fuck is fishcake!"

Tayuya was furious. It was evident from what she'd just yelled in the middle of Konoha. The genjutsu specialist was very, very irritated. Naruto had avoided her since that day he-

"Where the fuck is fishcake!" shouted Tayuya again trying to forcefully not think about what happened.

She saw Naruto this week but, each time it happened to be a clone. She wouldn't maim a clone for two reasons. One, the clones were usually with a civilian or shinobi. That wasn't cool to just disrupt that for the civilians and shinobi sakes. Tayuya wasn't that merciless.

The second reason was because a shadow clone would dispell. That was just no good either. Naruto wouldn't actually feel her wrath because he'd vanish the first bit of distress he felt. No, she needed the original. Sadly, she couldn't find him anywhere.

"Ino-chan...hey, you know I'm just a clone right?" Tayuya perked up hearing a Naruto clone sound fearful of his well-being. Someone else was hunting Naruto? "Wait...what are you doing with that bracelet?!"

"You may not be Naruto but, I can always find him through you right?" Tayuya peeked around the corner to see a platinum blond speaking ominously to the Naruto clone.

"I'm not letting you touch me," said the Naruto clone moving to avoid Ino's hand just as she reached toward him.

He'd have avoided it if a particular tune didn't hit his ears that froze him. A genjutsu wouldn't hold Naruto, not even a clone. But, it did pause him long enough for Ino to tap his shoulder.

With that simple touch, Ino found herself in that particular clone's psyche. Luckily for her, Naruto didn't have a few dozen clones out and about. He only had 7 to choose from and even luckier for her, the original Naruto's view was the central one. And she could see him panic knowing she knew where to find him.

"Why didn't I do this before?" questioned Ino rhetorically with a smirk before ending her jutsu. Ino saw the fearful eyes of the Naruto clone before turning to her unknown helper. "Who are you?"

"Someone who shares your interest in kicking the original him's ass..." spoke Tayuya pointing to the clone Naruto.

"North Gate. He's getting ready to leave with Jiraiya-sama."

"Leave?" questioned Tayuya following after the blond. Tayuya took notice of the magatama bead on the end of Ino's bracelet and gasped. "Wait...fishcake gave you something too?" That got Ino to turn back when Tayuya said 'too'. That meant she'd gotten something from Naruto but, she didn't see a bracelet on her wrist. "He made me earrings."

Ino watched Tayuya pull back her hair to reveal two earrings that were made of the same black material as her bracelet. And dangling from the ends of them both were magatama beads. Unlike her purple, Tayuya's magatamas shined a dark pink when the light hit them.

"Why is yours pink? Is pink your favorite color?"

"Hell no, I hate pink. Why, is that why he made yours purple?"

"I think so."

"He made mine pink because he says my hair isn't red..." growled Tayuya remembering Naruto's reasonings for her 'gift' for helping him with Oto being pink. She hated pink. It was such a girl color. "Teme could have at least asked first. In case you didn't know, fishcake can summon you anytime he wants while you're wearing that."

"I noticed..." said Ino twitching a bit. She found that out a second before being dunked in frigid cold water. Ino then peeked an eye back to look at Tayuya once more. "Hmm, he went with pink? Your hair does look red..."

"I know right-"

"Until you really look at it. It looks dark pink when the sun hits it."

Tayuya looked at Ino and frowned.

"Who are you again?"

"Someone who shares your interest in harming Naruto-kun," said Ino turning her head forward to the North Gate. She ignored Tayuya growling at being dismissed so casually and noticed the large gathering of people at the North Gate. "There he is."

"We're going to miss you Naruto-sama!"

"Travel safely Naruto-sama!"

"Marry me Naruto-sama!"

That last one got a couple of cheers and wolf whistles from the crowd. Naruto stood before Jiraiya, Fu, and Sasuke waving to the people sending him off. The four of them looked prepared for long travel as they all had backpacks on filled with items for a long trip. Naruto was finishing up waving to the people gathered to wish him well on his journey so they could depart.

"Thank you all! I hope to return soon."

While Naruto was waving to the denizen, he noticed Ino enter the crowd. He could see her smirking at him. She wouldn't attack him now. No, Yamanaka Ino had better manners than that.

 _"See you when you return Naruto-kun..."_ thought Ino as her bracelet glowed purple. She saw Naruto's eyes widened as her smirk deepened. She was projecting her thoughts to him and he could hear them. _"I can't wait until you get back. Payback will be mine."_

 _"Good luck,"_ said Naruto in reply via mental feedback. Ino's bracelet glowed purple, not of her own volition, as a rainbow hologram of Naruto appeared before her. Though the rainbow Naruto wasn't visible to the people gathered since he was in her mind. "In case you miss me. You can call anytime."

Ino just smiled at that before nodding her head. She would wait and that got Naruto to mentally exhale a breath. He could deal with Ino later. She wouldn't hold a grudge for however long this trip would take. At least Naruto hoped she wouldn't.

Naruto then turned to the crowd and saw Karin and the Hokage smiling. She'd been accepted by the Barrier Team and they were already praising her. She would do well. Naruto saw some of the others in the Rookie 12 standing not too far away waving at him as well. Hell, everyone was there it looked like unless they were on a mission. Only thing was, Naruto felt like he was missing something.

"FISHCAKE!" Oh, right...that something was actually a someone.

"Hey Tayuya-chan," greeted Naruto calmly. Naruto turned to see the girl ready to bloody his head with the business end of her flute. Only thing was, Naruto froze her in midair with his gravity powers. "You can't still be mad can you?"

"What do you think?" questioned Tayuya not caring what she looked like trying to beat up a 'God' in front of his 'cult'.

"I'd still be mad."

"Not helping Fu," said Naruto turning to see the jinchuriki girl shrug. Naruto turned back to Tayuya and gave her a smile. That was until he saw her earrings glowing their dark pink hue. _"Hmm, what did hers do again..."_ thought Naruto before hearing three smoke clouds poof behind him. "Ah right, you had those summon things. Chikushodo was yours."

Like Ino, Tayuya's earrings were outfitted with special properties. For her, Naruto chose the Animal Path. It was really simple. There wasn't much he could do to help her with her Genjutsu, not like she even needed it.

But, when they were sacking Oto bases the girl had trouble getting out her summonings. Not that she couldn't but, without Orochimaru's little curse mark boost Tayuya couldn't dredge up the chakra necessary without severely draining her reserves.

Naruto's earrings erased that drawback considering it took nothing to channel the minuscule amount of chakra to her earrings which summoned her _Doki (Rage Ogres)_. They were the three things she summoned right behind Naruto. And they were breathing down his neck quite aggressively.

"Do you want to come on the trip?" questioned Naruto not even worried about the summons behind him. Tayuya was smirking as her ogres all rose their weapons to bash Naruto's head in. She stopped mentally commanding them through Naruto's earrings and looked at him quizzically upon his question. "I wasn't sure what you were going to do after the Oto stuff so I never asked. But, since you're still here I figured why not? So..."

"Go with you? And dumbass, emo, and Fu?" questioned Tayuya getting indignant looks from Sasuke and Jiraiya. How come they got called out of their names but Fu didn't? That was sexist. They wouldn't get the chance to call her on it as Tayuya just laughed. "Pfft, as if I would want to go with you anywhere anymore. I'll pass."

"Alright. Well, we're off then..." said Naruto setting Tayuya down with his gravity powers before turning to Jiraiya. "Let's get on with it Ero-sensei!"

"Sure thing kid! Everybody else ready?" questioned Jiraiya getting nods before the four of them all departed.

Tayuya stood frozen, next to her Doki, watching the four of them just start walking away. She forgot all about beating down Naruto when she realized he was seriously just leaving.

"Oi! Fishcake!" shouted Tayuya getting Naruto to stop and turn back to look at her. He waited a few seconds for her to say something as she eventually did. "Don't die out there..."

"Heh, I won't. See you in a minute Tayuya-chan," said Naruto with a wave before turning around and continuing on.

Tayuya just watched Naruto's fading form and couldn't believe he actually was gone. She said what she said because she expected Naruto to beg her to go. She'd deny him again before finally agreeing if he'd stop groveling. That didn't happen at all. And it made her sad seeing Naruto get further and further away.

"She wanted to go!"

"I know! Why'd she lie like that?"

"Tsundere I bet..."

Tayuya growled overhearing conversations from the group of people behind her. She may have actually wanted to go but, she still had an image to uphold. And she wouldn't be taking any of that from the people behind her.

"Listen here you Naruto worshipping, cult being sons of-"

"58, 59, Chikushodo. That's one minute."

"...bitches..." finished Tayuya seeing she'd been summoned by Naruto.

"Told you I'd see you in a minute," spoke Naruto having counted to sixty before summoning Tayuya.

"..." Tayuya just looked at Naruto and saw him smirking. Oh, he was a cold piece of work for doing that. And Tayuya made sure he knew how she felt about being hoodwinked. "I don't like you..."

"I doubt it. Especially considering what Ino-chan told me via brain link what you looked like after we walked off," said Naruto wrapping an arm around Tayuya's shoulder and holding her close. He then made her walk with him as they followed behind the smirking Jiraiya, Sasuke, and Fu. Naruto had gotten her and they all knew it. "We all knew you wanted to. Unless you had another reason for staying in Konoha after I told you you could do whatever you wanted?"

"...I was staying to kick your ass for...for..."

"Sticking his fingers up your butt."

"...thanks Fu," said Tayuya lowly with a blush on her face as Sasuke rose an eyebrow having not known about that.

"Ah, that's in the past Tayuya-chan. We live in the present. And presently," said Naruto hugging the blushing girl tighter to him. "We're on a training trip. And by training trip, I really mean vacation." continued Naruto smiling happily. He'd seen the world through Hagoromo's memories but, he wanted to see what's happened to it since then. And this trip was perfect. "Well, it's a training trip for Sasuke. He still sucks and can't beat anyone here."

"What? I'm at least as strong as that potty-mouthed chick beside you," said Sasuke having known Fu was stronger than him when he challenged her to a spar. He found out she was coming with them and wanted to know if she could hold her own. She not only could hold her own, but also beat him down bad. It wasn't even close. _"I didn't know what her abilities were but, even knowing them now I still can't beat her."_

He couldn't beat Jiraiya or Naruto either. But, he knew he could at least beat Tayuya and that made Sasuke feel a bit better. Until Naruto put it in perspective for him. It was something he'd need to do now being Sasuke's current teacher.

"Probably but, Tayuya-chan doesn't have an older brother to kill who's in the top two of best shinobi in recent Konoha history," informed Naruto getting Sasuke to scoff at that. He knew it was true. Itachi was probably one if you didn't count Namikaze Minato in that 'recent' history. "Anyway, welcome Tayuya-chan."

"...I didn't want to be here..." said Tayuya weakly as Naruto just hugged her even tighter.

"I know Tayuya-chan. I know."

And know Naruto did. This was to be a fun trip.

* * *

 **And scene! Until next time.**

 **-Hamp**


	9. Bringing Sand To The Desert

**Hello Again! Chapter Nine. Enjoy**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. Hope the first third of the new year has been treating you all well. And happy 4/20 to my smokers out there. Stay Up!

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Bringing Sand To The Desert**

"Fishcake."

"Yes, Tayuya-chan?"

"Can you tell dumbass to stop asking me stupid shit?" questioned Tayuya with an irritated snarl.

"They're only questions. Plus, you don't have to answer," replied Naruto walking with his eyes closed.

Naruto stepped in stride next to the agitated Genjutsu specialist unbothered by her ire. She should have seen this coming. They were in a group that had Jiraiya of the Sannin in it. When something even the less bit perverted happened, Jiraiya would be all over it.

"Fishcake...just tell him."

"I can't make him do anything. Unless I fight him but, this isn't really worth physical confrontation. It doesn't really bother me."

"Hah! Guess that means you're going to answer up pinky," said Jiraiya getting Tayuya to growl more. Her hair wasn't pink and she wouldn't have Jiraiya calling her that. Too bad for her, he'd continue for as long as she called him a dumbass. "Now, what'd you and gaki do in his tent last night?"

"We. Did. Nothing!" growled out Tayuya with a mild blush tinting her cheeks. A finger point to the Rinnegan wielder as she continued. "I already explained this is his fault! Fishcake invited me on this trip like twelve seconds before you all left. I didn't have anything."

"So you chose Naruto's tent over Fu's? Even though, her being a girl would have kept it less suspicious?"

"Fishcake has the bigger tent."

"You slept in his tent for two nights in a row though. Even after I chided you the first night."

"Not like a night's rest would have given Fu a bigger tent dumbass. Of course I slept there twice. There's more space."

"You could have bought a tent at the store we stopped at yesterday," interjected Sasuke having had enough of this conversation. He was irritable too having to hear this for the second day in a row. "Naruto stopped specifically so you could stock up on items for the trip. They had a tent there. And Naruto even offered to pay for it."

"The tent was like a bajillion ryo! I wasn't going to make him pay for it."

"It wasn't a bajillion Tayuya. It was ten thousand ryo."

"Thanks Fu...but that's still a lot to spend though." Fu shook her head before pointing at Naruto herself.

"Not for Naruto-sama it isn't," informed Fu with a smile. "He has over a billion ryo after beating Kakazu and taking his fortune."

That got everyone's attention as they all turned to Naruto.

"What? Everybody good?" questioned Naruto opening his eyes.

Naruto looked at the lot of them with a Rinnegan-enhanced gaze. It got everyone to stop looking at him rather quickly. Jiraiya was the higher-ranked shinobi but, he couldn't beat Naruto in a fight. And that looked to be the only way to his surprising fortune.

Nobody there would discuss it any further. What they would discuss is Tayuya's sleeping arrangements some more.

"Did the two of you cuddle?"

"Shut the fuck up dumbass!"

"Naruto," said Sasuke ignoring the Jiraiya's teasing of Tayuya. Naruto turned to the Uchiha and saw his eyes twitching slightly. "My chakra is getting low. I need to turn off my Sharingan."

"No, you don't. Sharingan stays on until I say you can turn it off," said Naruto walking over to Sasuke. Rinnegan stared into Sharingan as Naruto smiled. He could see the low chakra Sasuke had and nodded his head. "Have you seen me ever turn my Rinnegan off even though you know I'm capable of doing so?" Sasuke shook his head as Naruto nodded. "So neither will you."

Naruto then tapped Sasuke on the shoulder. Sasuke felt his chakra supply fill back up getting his eyes to widen. It actually felt like his normal chakra had doubled from whatever Naruto did. Naruto just grinned as his eyes confirmed what Sasuke was feeling.

"Keep your Sharingan on. The more active it is, the stronger it'll become and the less strain it'll take to use them in the future." continued Naruto removing his hand from Sasuke. "You'll eventually get to a point like me where no matter how much chakra you use, your Sharingan will remain active. It could come in handy someday."

Sasuke nodded at that piece of information. Sasuke's Sharingan was very important to his battle prowess. If he was able to use his eyes then he'd remain dangerous in any fight no matter how fatigued he was. Such as a fight to the death with a certain somebody else who possessed a pair of the same eyes he did.

Now that Sasuke thought about it, Itachi was never seen without his Sharingan active. Maybe Naruto had a point.

"Doubt it. Eyes alone don't make you better than someone," said Fu getting Naruto to turn to her with an eyebrow raised. "Well, _his_ eyes. There are ways around the Sharingan. I haven't figured yours out just yet Naruto-sama."

"Stupid blinding powder..." spoke Sasuke as Naruto frowned at Fu.

"No, I think you're right. It's just...stop with the sama Fu," said Naruto as Fu smiled at him and shook her head. Why she began to call him that was beyond him but, it didn't matter. Well, it did matter but, he couldn't get her to stop so, thus, it didn't matter. "Anyhoo, eyes don't make you better than someone but, I can't train teme until he has a larger chakra supply," said Naruto with a shrug. Naruto's techniques came with gusto. And gusto meant full of chakra. Chakra that Sasuke didn't have enough of yet. "Making him constantly drain his chakra supply and then forcefully expanding it when I refill it was the best option I could come up with. Jiraiya-sensei said it was pretty good. His way was way more difficult from what he says."

"He's still going to suck Fishcake." Sasuke's turn to frown at Tayuya who'd started ignoring Jiraiya now.

"He might but, at least he's prepared," said Naruto pulling out a tan poncho. Tayuya watched Sasuke pull out his own poncho along with Fu and Jiraiya. She saw them all put their ponchos on before Naruto grabbed her attention again. "You're the only one not prepared since you didn't grab a poncho like I told you to. You do know where we're headed right?"

"I do but, the weather can't be that bad," said Tayuya before she was hit by blistering heat. They'd stepped from under the forest right into the sun's light. Tayuya cringed before her eyes adjusted and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "What the fuck? The landscape just changes like that?"

"Yeah, it's a sudden shift from the Land of Fire to the Land of Wind," informed Jiraiya as Tayuya turned back. She could see the forest of the Land of Fire not three paces back before it shifted immediately to the desert. It was like someone drew a line in the Earth and made it so. "Only one day until we're in Sunagakure! Let's get to it people."

Everyone nodded and followed Jiraiya except for Tayuya and Naruto. Naruto kept Tayuya from following and she was confused as to why.

"I have an extra poncho for you." Tayuya blinked seeing the second poncho in Naruto's hands.

"Thanks Fishcake," said Tayuya as Naruto placed the poncho on her. Tayuya blushed when she noticed something weird while looking at him. _"Why the fuck is the light hitting him like that? It makes his stupid smile and his stupid eyes look really good."_ Naruto made sure the poncho was on properly before pulling out a storage scroll. A poof of smoke later and Naruto held two straw hats. _"Why am I not berating him for treating me like a child? I could have done this on my own!"_

"This will probably help too." Naruto put on his hat before moving a little closer to Tayuya.

Tayuya's blush deepened as she allowed Naruto to place the straw hat carefully on her head. Naruto nodded his head looking at her before continuing onward into the Land of Wind. Tayuya's blush moved to cover her entire face because Naruto had grabbed her hand to get her moving. She'd been frozen since she said thanks.

 _"It must be this weather. Got me all flustered and thinking fishcake is attractive-nope! I refuse to think that because he isn't!"_ thought Tayuya willing her blush to go down. It didn't go down because Naruto's hand felt good holding hers. She had to remedy that. "I can walk on my own Fishcake. You can let go of my hand anytime."

"Ah, right. Sorry." Naruto let go of her hand as Tayuya frowned. Naruto noticed and tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just your hand was sweaty," said Tayuya not realizing she'd frowned. She was glad Naruto was an idiot. Because he didn't pick up on how she was really feeling. _"I don't miss him holding my hand. And why the fuck am I blushing still?! I do not like Fishcake so why am I-"_

"Tsundere!" Tayuya growled hearing Jiraiya take her out of her thoughts.

"Shut the fuck up dumbass! I still don't know what that means!"

"Hehehe, you'll figure it out pinky."

Tayuya growled at the nickname before following behind Naruto. He was wiping off his hand but Tayuya didn't care. They'd be in Sunagakure by tomorrow. Hopefully, she'd figure out what was wrong with herself by then.

 _(The Next Day)_

"Halt! State your name and business."

"Hello! My name is Jiraiya and I'm here for a visit," spoke Jiraiya lifting up the hood of his poncho to show his face. The guards recognized him as he pointed to the small contingent with him. "This is my little rag-tag team of kids. He's Sasuke and she's Fu." continued Jiraiya pointing to the two of them. Sasuke pulled down the scarf around his face and gave a head nod. Fu just gave a happy wave as Jiraiya pointed to the other two. "Pinky there is Tayuya and the kid is Naruto."

"Sup chumps," greeted Tayuya with a snort.

"Yo!" greeted Naruto with a wave as he tilted up the brim of his straw hat.

The four guards standing at the gate all saw Naruto and their eyes widened in shock. They could see the purple hues of his eyes and knew who he was. He was only the biggest story in the world at the moment.

"You're...Uzumaki Naruto," said one of the guards shakily. Naruto nodded his head as the Suna shinobi pulled out a bingo book. "This Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Hmm, yes. I am he," said Naruto looking at the book's cover. He could see his picture on the front of it and all that entailed it. "Second coming of the Rikudo is big shoes to fill don't you think?"

The gate guards said nothing in return. They merely sat frozen looking at Naruto as Naruto gave a sheepish grin. Looks like he'd broken the unsuspecting gate guards with his being there. Luckily, someone else arrived in a swirl of sand to escort them.

"Naruto." Naruto looked up hearing his name to see someone familiar.

"Gaara," greeted Naruto looking at the other teen.

"We got Hokage-dono's letter. The council is waiting for you," spoke Gaara getting Naruto to nod.

"Sounds good. Also, there's something I want to speak with you about," said Naruto beginning to follow after Gaara. Jiraiya, Sasuke, Fu, and Tayuya all followed after Naruto as he conversed with Gaara. "We can save it for later though."

Gaara just nodded his head as the gate guards watched the six of them enter the village. They soon got out of eyesight as one of the guards swallowed the lump in his throat.

"That was really him. The Rinnegan, it's real..." spoke one of the men as the one holding the bingo book opened it.

"I thought this was just a misunderstanding somehow but," said the man looking at Naruto's entry in the book. "If his Rinnegan is true then, that means this information should be taken seriously."

The man proceeded to read what the latest bingo book had to say about Uzumaki Naruto.

 _Name: Uzumaki Naruto, Nidaime Rikudo Sennin (Second Sage of Six Paths)_

 _Age: Approx. 13_

 _Gender: Male_

 _Origin: Konohagakure_

 _Clan: Uzumaki_

 _Affiliated with Konoha_

 _Ninja Rank: Chunin_

 _Physical Description: 5'6" tall, 110 pounds. Eyes are the fabled Rinnegan characterized by a ripple pattern that spreads over the eyeball. Golden blonde hair and six whisker mark like scars, three on each cheek._

 _Elemental Affinity: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning_

 _Rank: S_

 _Special Talents: Possesses the Rinnegan and the ability to use the special powers of the Rikudo. Gravity manipulation, teleportation, and chakra absorption are the only ones confirmed. Possibly contains many more advanced abilities that are currently unknown._

 _Bounty: 100 Million Ryo Alive. Stationed by Anonymous._

 _Stats: Ninjutsu: 5 Taijutsu: 5 Genjutsu 5 Intelligence: 4 Strength: 5 Speed: 5 Stamina: 5 Hand Seals: 3 Total: 37_

"Dude...100 million Ryo?"

"Yeah but, you gotta catch _him_...alive. 37 is the highest stats I've ever seen. And he's still just a teenager."

Catching Naruto alive or dead wasn't possible for 99% of the world. And that percentage was 100% considering only the four of them. They could feel it off the presence Naruto had. No one there could even fathom a way of defeating him considering what they just read.

"At least I get to tell people I met a God today," spoke a gate guard getting his comrades to agree.

It wasn't every day you got to meet the second coming of the Sage of Six Paths. Especially considering the first was considered the peak of shinobi in power and Naruto seemed to already be there at the age of thirteen. Their seeing him was something they'd be able to talk about for the rest of their lives. Luckily, one of the four gate guards was paying attention to his job as he noticed someone trying to sneak in the village while they talked about Naruto.

"Hey, halt! State your name and-"

The man didn't get out what he wanted to say as he was stricken in the stomach lightly. The man fell to his knees from the blow before the person he'd seen as the other three sprung into action. Only they immediately fell when they tried to and promptly passed out. The mystery intruder reached down and grabbed the bingo book the gate guards had been looking at.

 _"Nidaime Rikudo Sennin?"_ thought the person before turning back to Sunagakure.

They continued into the village with plans to see this _second_ coming of the Sage of Six Paths.

* * *

 _(Later That Day)_

It'd been a long meeting with Suna's council. Most of it was spent with them kissing up to Naruto. The endless compliments, the gifts they'd gotten for him, and all of the other inane pleasantries that Naruto didn't much care for. This was the part of the journey he'd hate.

Konoha wasn't the only ones who saw him as a God. And thus, everyone wanted to meet and try to appease _God_. Naruto didn't like being compared to God when he really wasn't. He was just really strong. That shouldn't make him God.

"God-like powers shouldn't make one a God," said Naruto thinking aloud as he sat atop the roof of their hotel. A hotel that Sunagakure paid for fully along with anything else Naruto or his contingent would need throughout their stay here. Part of their pleasantries. "Having dog-like powers doesn't make Kiba a dog."

"Why'd you use that example?" questioned the person sitting atop the roof with Naruto. They were loudly slurping a bowl of ramen that they'd requested since Sunagakure was paying for it anyway. "There were a dozen other examples you could have used. Why a dog?"

"Well, Fu, god spelled backward is dog," said Naruto with a shrug. He didn't really think it was that deep but, Fu found everything interesting for the most part. "It was just the first thing that came to mind really."

"Ah." Fu nodded and continued to eat her ramen before posing a different question. "Why did you come out to the top of the hotel?"

"Remember the clone spam I did in Konoha to meet and greet with the villagers?" questioned Naruto getting a nod from Fu. "Well, I'm doing that here too. It's easier to control all of them from a higher point so, here I am."

"Ah, that's cool."

"Indeed. Plus, I'm waiting for someone and they can find me easier up here than holed up in my hotel room."

"Is the person you're meeting coming from the moon?"

"Huh?"

"Is the person you're meeting coming from the moon?" questioned Fu again undeterred by Naruto's surprise at her question. The girl looked up to the moon that she could see during the current sunset before looking back at Naruto. "You've been looking up at it every now and then since we started this trip. I just figured the person you were waiting for was someone from there."

"Heh, that's pretty ridiculous don't you think? You think people really live on the moon?"

"I don't know. If anyone knew that, it'd probably be you. You do have the Sage of Six Paths' memories. Did he ever see moon people?"

"Hagoromo was a moon person. At least halfway. His dad was human but, his mom was an alien that hailed from some extraterrestrial place," said Naruto getting Fu to raise both eyebrows. She didn't know she was actually kind of right. There were people that lived outside the Earth? "His mom was crazy though so, Hagoromo sealed her away and created the moon to contain her." continued Naruto pointing up to the astronomical body. Wait, the Sage of Six Paths sealed his own mother into what everyone called the moon? How did that even work? "And yeah, he saw _moon_ people but, it's a long story."

Fu just looked at Naruto expectingly. She wanted to hear the story. Naruto could see that she did but, he just smiled at her and shook his head.

"We don't have the time right now," said Naruto as sand swirled before he and Fu. Naruto stood just as Gaara came out of his shunshin. "Like I said, I'm meeting someone. Maybe later Fu-chan."

"Okay! I'll save you a bowl of ramen."

"Fu, you're amazing. Be back soon." Naruto walked to Gaara and stood before the Ichibi Jinchuriki. "You mind if we go somewhere a bit different for this? Just in case Shukaku-kun is a bit testy." Gaara just nodded as Naruto grinned. "I'm sure you can find where I go."

Naruto teleported a bit outside of Sunagakure and stood on nothing but sand. Only sand could be seen for a few hundred meters as Naruto nodded. This place would do just fine. He'd hoped Gaara could find him relatively soon. Now that he thought about it though.

 _"Why didn't I just teleport him with me?"_ thought Naruto with a shake of his head. Sometimes he just didn't think. Granted, he probably couldn't touch Gaara because the boy's sand would stop him. _"Gaara's sand wouldn't have let me touch him to teleport him away. That's my reason and I'm sticking to it."_ continued Naruto in his head. With his way of rationalizing his lack of thought, Naruto frowned feeling someone trying to sneak up and kill him. "Well, I'm not sure you get the bounty if I'm dead."

Naruto turned his head to the person trying to attack him. He could see a person standing there with their hand extended like a knife with their fingers forward. And from how hard it was for Naruto to stop them with his Deva powers, that knife hand would have gone right through his chest and out his back.

"Who are you? And why are you attacking me?"

"You don't recognize me?" questioned the person in a deep voice that felt purposely forced. The person vanished and reappeared a few feet from Naruto after asking the question. Naruto blinked and turned to them curious at how they managed to escape his gravity prison so easily. "Not even a little bit?"

Naruto then frowned. He wouldn't have asked the question if he knew. He did take a moment to view the person's appearance and garnered nothing from it. This mysterious person was wearing a mask that covered the lower half of their face, a long white robe that covered them from head to toe, and a straw hat on their head that kept everything about them really a mystery.

"I'm sad you don't and I'll be glad to tell you. But, you're busy today," spoke the person seeing the purple glow in Naruto's Rinnegan. If Naruto could see through their facemask, he'd see them smiling at him. "Come here tomorrow night and chat with me, _Otsutsuki_ -sama."

Naruto's eyes widened hearing the surname. How did they know that name? Were they from the moon? Were they related to Hagoromo's mother? Were they alone or were there more of them?

There were so many questions that Naruto had and would find out. And he didn't feel like waiting so he was going to get those answers now. The tomoe in Naruto's eyes spun as he teleported with an Ashura Senku.

"Not now Naruto-kun, tomorrow," said the person again turning and catching Naruto's teleportation. With their new proximity, Naruto was able to see under their hat and look into the person's eyes. And Naruto realized this person was indeed an Otsutsuki. "Tomorrow. Please come alone. I will answer all of your questions then." Naruto nodded his head as the person smiled again. Not that Naruto could see the smile as they began to vanish. "Until then, take it easy handsome."

"Until then..." trailed off Naruto as the figure vanished entirely. Naruto was still stuck on the person's eyes. The eyes were featureless, reminiscent of the Byakugan, but were wholly different since they were golden. _"They're apart of the Otsutsuki clan. The dots where their eyebrows should be were enough. And then, they possess the Byakugan with Senjutsu. Who are you?"_ continued Naruto in his head before sand began to swirl next to him. Naruto would continue his thinking later. For now, he had a Bijuu to speak with. "Glad you could make it Gaara."

"Of course. Are you ready to proceed?"

"Yes, let us begin."

 _(Sunagakure Hotel)_

"I think it's stupid that Suna is kissing Fishcake's ass so much," said Tayuya shaking her head. She then grinned toothily while holding up several bags. "But if he's not going to abuse it, I will for him. Free shit is awesome!"

"What did you buy Tayuya?" questioned a very curious Fu appearing next to the redhead.

"I didn't _buy_ anything. Suna _bought_ it."

"What did Suna _buy_ for you?"

"Well, they bought-who the fuck is that?" questioned Tayuya with a finger point.

"Huh? I'm the only one here since Naruto-sama left," said Fu raising an eyebrow. She turned to where Tayuya was pointing and she saw a person. The same person who'd confronted Naruto moments earlier, not that she'd know the last part. "Hello, I'm Fu. Who are you?"

"Hello Fu, I'm-" the person was cut off when two kunai lodged perfectly in their chest. Tayuya's arm was still extended from the throw as she grinned haughtily. "Right, do that again if you want to die."

Tayuya's eyes widened seeing the world distort. After it finished warping, the two kunai she threw were back in her hand. It was like the world went back five seconds since Fu introduced herself again.

"Hello, I'm Fu. Who are you?"

"Hello Fu, I'm just here to check up on this world. I wasn't meant to stay unless I found a reason," said the person with a small shrug. "And honestly, I didn't find a reason until I caught wind of Uzumaki Naruto. And that stud, the _Nidaime Rikudo Sennin_ , is more than enough reason to stay if there was any."

"Hmm, well, I don't know where Naruto-sama went but, I'm sure he'll be back soon," said Fu with a thumbs up.

"I know where he is. I left him not too long ago. I'll be speaking with him tomorrow."

"Ah, well that's good. Do you want something to eat? We have ramen if that's fine?" questioned Fu getting the person to blink. The person smiled again before nodding their head. Fu smiled at them. "Great! I'll be right back. Will only take three minutes."

While Fu left to get the mysterious person a bowl of ramen, Tayuya was stuck staring at them. Tayuya cursed Fu's lack of tact in these situations because the girl didn't realize they were in the presence of a predator. This person had the same aura as Naruto did and that didn't bode well considering their intentions were still not known.

"Who are you?"

"I've told you already, I'm here for-"

"Naruto right...that's not what I'm asking." continued Tayuya undeterred by the person's ire growing at being cut off.

She'd been around an angry Naruto and he was much more imposing than this random person was. Granted, this person could still kill her but, Tayuya wasn't afraid to die. She wanted her question answered.

"Who are you? Give me a name or something."

"I believe it's common courtesy to give your name first before asking another's."

"Fuck you and common courtesy. I'm not the one trespassing here, you are. So, who are you before I force you to tell me," said Tayuya feeling a wave of killing intent from the intruder.

"You're kind of abrasive aren't you? Force me to tell you? Hah, you do know I could kill you in an instant you vulgar mouthed heathen?" questioned the person dangerously. A pink glow came from Tayuya's earrings as a moment later, Naruto appeared. A smirk formed on the person's face seeing Naruto again so soon. "Hello again Naruto-kun."

"Hello again to you," said Naruto standing next to Tayuya and looking at the intruder. Naruto could feel the killing intent drowning the room and frowned seeing Tayuya frozen. Naruto flexed his chakra getting the pressure in the room to disappear immediately as he spoke to their unknown guest. "Right, I don't know who you are but...we agreed on tomorrow, did we not?"

"That we did Naruto-kun, that we did. And I apologize, I just wanted to see who you surrounded yourself with before we did," said the person giddy at Naruto's chakra presence. He was absolutely to die for. "Look at the chakra on you big boy! My goodness, I'm shivering in excitement."

"...okay? Does that mean you want to fight?"

"Such an innocent boy. I'll teach you no worries. Not now though, too many people and it's been three minutes," spoke the person turning to see Fu coming out of the kitchen.

"And ramen is served-oh, Naruto-sama...you're back already?" questioned Fu holding a steaming bowl of ramen and smiling at Naruto.

"I'm just a clone Fu. I'll be back soon though," said Naruto turning with a smile to the Jinchuriki. He then turned back to the Otsutsuki. "I will see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, you will Naruto-kun. Thank you for the food Fu-chan. I rather like you, you've been amazing," said the person accepting the ramen. An unseen grin came to their face getting a good look at Fu. "You have one in you too. Not nearly as strong, but still _very_ impressive." Fu blinked at the words before smiling. She didn't really understand what the person meant, but it sounded like a compliment. "Rest well Naruto-kun. I promise you'll need the energy."

The person simply vanished as Tayuya frowned. She'd been scared enough to, out of fear, subconsciously call for Naruto. How embarrassing. Especially considering she brought it on herself. Her usual manner of speaking could have gotten her killed for something she didn't need to do.

"You okay?" Tayuya blinked and looked to see Naruto staring at her.

"Yes, sorry...I didn't mean to summon you."

"It's fine. Sorry I could only send a clone though," said Naruto smiling at the redhead. Red tinted Tayuya's cheeks when Naruto reached up to touch her earrings. "Never hesitant to call. I gave those to you so you could, anytime for anything. And since I'm no longer needed, I shall be leaving now. Original needs to focus."

"What is Naruto-sama doing?" The clone just smiled again.

"He'll tell you when he returns," said the clone turning to Fu. "And yes, he will still tell you the moon story too. It's partially about the person you just met and I hope you didn't give them my ramen?"

"Of course not, I gave them the chicken one. Miso pork is waiting for you when you get back!" exclaimed Fu knowing Naruto's favorite getting the clone to smile wider.

"Fu, you're amazing. Original said it before and _he's_ saying it now. See you ladies later."

The clone disappeared in a poof leaving Fu and Tayuya alone. Tayuya couldn't help but think about what happened. The killing intent exuded by the mysterious person was obsurd. Naruto's was greater but he never truly would have killed her when he used it to get her to comply.

Since this person did, Tayuya was assaulted with images of all the ways they could have killed her. And they were all so easy. She couldn't stop thinking about them. Naruto's presence stopped it for his time being here. But he was gone now and her mind was stuck-

"So, what did Suna buy you Tayuya-chan?" questioned Fu snapping Tayuya out of her thoughts.

"..." Tayuya stared at Fu to see the girl curiously looking at her haul. Tayuya couldn't help but smile at the tan-skinned girl. "Right, let me show you."

Fu bounced on her toes excitedly as Tayuya mentally thanked her. Fu had distracted Tayuya from her tumultuous thoughts. As Naruto and the mysterious person said, Fu was amazing.

* * *

 _(With Naruto)_

"Everything fine?"

"Yes, sorry. I was needed for a moment," said Naruto standing in Gaara's mindscape with the redhead. Naruto randomly stopped and remained still getting Gaara to wonder. "Just a little trouble back with my team. It's fine now."

"I sure hope it had nothing to do with Suna?"

"No, not at all. This is totally different," said Naruto before the two of them reached their destination. The giant sand tanuki, Shukaku, sat before them stomping about Gaara's mindscape. "And there he is. Hello Shukaku."

 **"..."** the Bijuu blanched hearing its name and turned to see Gaara and Naruto. The tanuki didn't pay much mind to Gaara but Naruto got a reaction from the beast. **"No! Get away from me you weird, wannabe Jiji! Stay back!"**

"I come meaning no harm this time," said Naruto reflecting a wave of sand from the Bijuu. "I'm not here to fight."

 **"Nope! Get away from me!"** shouted Shukaku charging up a dark sphere of chakra. **" Bijuudama (Tailed Beast Ball)"**

"Shukaku, seriously...I'm not here to fight," said Naruto absorbing the very dangerous attack with the Preta Path. Shukaku began to panic more as Naruto put up placating hands. "Look, I'm not doing anything this time. Seriously."

 **"I don't believe you. You turned me to glass last time you generic store version of Jiji!"**

"You were trying to destroy my home."

 **"..."**

"...yeah, you're not doing that now so, I have no reason to fight you. I'm only here to talk."

 **"Just talk? Talk about what? How you're a cheap copy of the man who made me?"** questioned Shukaku with a deep belly laugh. Shukaku laughed for several seconds until it saw that Naruto and Gaara both weren't laughing. **"I thought it was funny. You're both human so you probably can't relate. Bet Kurama would have found it funny."**

 **"I didn't really, it was pretty lame."** Shukaku blinked before turning to see his 'brother', the Kyubi, also in Gaara's mindscape.

 **"What the hell are you doing here teme?"**

 **"I don't really know, the kid made me come. I guess to tell you to hear him out."**

 **"Hmmm, hear him out huh?"** questioned Shukaku getting a nod from Kurama. Shukaku looked back at Naruto before shrugging. **"Okay fine, what you got to say faux Jiji?"**

"Thank you Kurama," said Naruto getting a snort from the fox. Naruto coughed in his hand before beginning his soliloquy. "Well, I came all this way to-"

 **"Got you!"** shouted Shukaku as Naruto and Gaara were swallowed up by an enormous wave of sand. The sand shifted to form a huge pyramid with seals spreading across it. The seals locked in place as Shukaku grinned. **"How's that?! No one escapes my Sabaku Sotaiso Fuin (Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal)."**

 **"You're an idiot..."** said Kurama getting Shukaku to snarl.

 **"And how do you figure?"**

 **"Because the kid's patience is wearing thin. The wave of sand, one. Bijuudama, two. And this pyramid is strike three, you're out."** The pyramid exploded sending sand everywhere across Gaara's mindscape. Kurama felt the breadth of Naruto's chakra and bristled at its potency. **"Even if he is this _cheap copy_ of jiji you say he is, he's still leagues above us, especially you, in power."**

"Shukaku- _kun_ , now, I'm really not one to get angry," spoke Naruto rising from the destroyed pyramid. Surrounding him was a massive humanoid construct made of sparkly, white chakra. Gaara sat with Naruto inside the body of the chakra construct and could see Naruto smiling with his eyes closed. "But seriously, I'm not here to fight. But I will fight you to ensure you listen to what I have to say. I really think you'll like it."

Shukaku sat frozen looking at the massive humanoid being Naruto created. It was easily as big as the Bijuu and its power was growing the more time passed. Shukaku looked down at Naruto's smile and swallowed the lump in its throat. Shukaku merely nodded as Naruto opened his eyes happily.

"Great then! Let me tell you about my plan. Hope you're paying attention too Gaara." Gaara nodded as Naruto clapped his hands together.

The cheap copy of Hagoromo gave Shukaku and Gaara his plans for the Jinchuriki and Bijuu just like he'd given to Kurama. By the end of it, Shukaku would realize it kind of liked Naruto a little bit. And Gaara was somewhat pleased as well of what the future untold.

Gaara and Shukaku were both down with separating the moment Naruto could accomplish it. Well, he could do it now but, Gaara would die. And Gaara didn't too much like that outcome. So they would wait.

Wait until Naruto got what he needed. Hopefully, it wouldn't be a long wait.

 _(The Next Day)_

Another day, another meeting with Suna's council. Another day of getting his ass kissed over and over. Seriously, Naruto was losing his sanity. Especially since Jiraiya and Tayuya really enjoyed abusing his _title_.

"I mean can't you accommodate the _Nidaime Rikudo Sennin_ to the best luxury hotel suites you own for his last night here?" Tayuya didn't miss a beat following after Jiraiya.

"Naruto- _sama_ does love food. You say you can have top chefs on standby all day and night?" Jiraiya was right behind Tayuya with another.

"An all-inclusive day at your finest spa is the least you can do for Naruto-sama's help, wouldn't you agree?"

Naruto's eye twitched hearing Tayuya and Jiraiya exchange requests. Naruto didn't care about any of these things. Well, maybe the food. The other stuff, Naruto did not care for. And he let that be known.

"I believe what they've done is already enough. Don't you _agree_ Tayuya-chan and Jiraiya-sensei?" questioned Naruto adding killing intent to his question. Jiraiya and Tayuya both gave stiff nods and didn't speak another word. "Thank you for your hospitality, we'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"It is no problem Naruto-sama, we are honored to have been your first destination," spoke an elderly woman in Suna's council. "Thank you for all your help. The denizen couldn't believe there were so many of you roaming around yesterday to get ahold of."

"Heh, gotta love clones. I'll do it again today. If that is all you had?" questioned Naruto getting a nod. A bunch of shaking hands later, Naruto and crew all exited the building. "Finally, my legs were going stiff."

"Mine did too. Plus, it was stuffy as hell in that little ass room," said Tayuya happy to breathe fresh air again.

"Heh, yeah it was," said Naruto before creating a few dozen clones. The clones spread as Naruto waved to his peoples. "Got an appointment. Don't get into any trouble while I'm gone."

Naruto got waves back before he teleported outside of Suna's walls again. He was in the same location as he was last night with Gaara. It's just, instead of Gaara being here, the mysterious Otsutsuki was.

"Good morning Naruto-kun."

"Good morning...hmm, I never got a name."

"Well handsome, you never got a face either," spoke the person reaching up to their hat and face mask.

Taking them both off, short white hair and pale skin were revealed to Naruto. A very gorgeous face greeted Naruto as she, definitely a she, smiled beautifully at him. And for some reason, the girl's white robe was open now, showing off her amazing figure.

She looked no older than 15 with vibrant gold eyes. She was wearing a sleeveless kimono blouse, colored white and black, that reached to her mid-thighs. The wind flowed and reveal the short black skirt she wore underneath. At first, it looked like she'd forgone wearing anything from the gutter-minded Naruto's viewpoint.

 _"Hehe, Jiraiya-sensei must be rubbing off on me."_ thought Naruto keeping a straight face.

"My name is Otsutsuki Miku handsome and it's my pleasure to meet you," spoke Miku getting Naruto to nod. The deep voice from earlier was gone and replaced by a sweet one instead. "You look surprised?"

"Of course, the deep voice had me thinking male, not female," said Naruto externally playing it cool. On the inside, he was losing his mind. _"Holy hell, she's been a she from the start looking this good?! Why the hell did she ever think to disguise herself? Well, I'm glad she's a she considering she's been calling me handsome this whole time. Makes me feel a little better."_

"Hehe, I like the shock on people's faces when they actually see me. Something I didn't get from you," said Miku with a smirk. Miku then vanished and appeared before Naruto. She stood face to face with the jinchuriki and smiled sweetly at him. "Or did I? You're good at masking your thoughts."

"Makes it easier to be a ninja when I can."

"I'll bet it does. You're at least curious as to how I escaped your gravity prison yesterday right?"

"Not really." Miku blinked hearing Naruto.

"Really? You aren't a little bit curious?"

"I was but not anymore. I already know how you did it," said Naruto getting Miku to raise an eyebrow. Feeling no reason to leave the pretty girl clueless, Naruto decided to explain. "My eyes decipher things even if I myself can't. It's kind of cool. And then I have this universal knowledge of chakra so I know how deciphered things work immediately. Stupid busted I know, I know." continued Naruto getting Miku's eyebrows to raise. His eyes could analyze anything he saw and then he just somehow understood it. Stupid busted indeed. "Yep, I see a technique once, my eyes decipher, and then I just know. The ability to reverse time, that's insanely useful."

"Benzaiten (She who controls all flow)."

"Hmm?"

"That's what it is called, my control over time," said Miku getting Naruto to nod. "I don't only go backward, I can go forward too. I actually saw how today went already."

"No kidding?" She nodded getting Naruto to furrow his brow. "Then why did you seem surprised I knew your power?"

"Well, future's change. I can only see one at a time. What you said wasn't a future I saw before you spoke. After you set the course for this one, I saw what today was like," said Miku getting a head tilt from Naruto. Miku smiled at the cuteness of his curious face before explaining. "I've seen it all. Would you like to see? I can show you if you like. Probably easier than explaining."

"Yes, thank you. I'm not good with words. Luckily, I have a Rinnegan that can just shift through memories," said Naruto as the tomoe in his eyes spun.

Miku shook her head before wrapping her arms around Naruto's neck. Naruto blinked and briefly wondered why he didn't repel her with gravity at her quick movement. He would say it was because her movement hadn't been one aiming to harm him. Not because he wanted the pretty girl to get even closer to him. The even closer proximity did get him to blush a little bit.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" Miku smiled knowingly before licking her lips.

"Your way is quicker. My way is much better though." Miku then kissed Naruto for all he was worth.

The moment her lips touched Naruto's, the Kyubi Jinchuriki could see today play out before him like he was fast-forwarding through life. He could see their conversation about their kiss. He could see his and Miku's ensuing spar. Naruto could see his happiness at finding an equal somewhat in battle.

Naruto could see his conversation with Miku after their fight. He could see his declining her proposition of creating another God Tree for her superiors. He could see the arrival of Pain and his battle with the Akatsuki leader in the desert. He could see-

"Wait what?" questioned Naruto ending his and Miku's kiss. That promptly took Naruto out of fastforward and he could see it was nightfall already. "I fought Pain?"

"Yay, I liked that battle," said Miku giving Naruto another kiss. This one much shorter than the first. Naruto blinked before Miku removed her arms from around him and stepped back. "I wonder if you'll do the same as the original future or change it? Good luck Naruto-kun."

"Holy hell, that's crazy..." said Naruto turning to see six, identically dressed men coming his way. Just like in Miku's little time traveling, the Six Paths of Pain walked into view. "Miku, you're awesome."

"Thank you Naruto-kun. You're awesome too with those nice lips."

"Mhmm, after I kick Pain's ass," said Naruto turning to the pretty girl. "I'm going to get you to tell me why you kissed me. I know all it should have taken was physical contact."

Miku just giggled getting Naruto to shake his head. He knew it was coming. He knew she knew he knew it was coming. She didn't need consent because she already knew what'd happen if she did it. The damn girl was dangerous in ways outside of combat.

"Hello, Kyubi. A beautiful sunset is it not?" questioned the original Path Naruto met before.

"A beautiful sunset it is," said Naruto getting Miku to smile.

"Same line as the future we already saw."

"Oh hush you."

"Only if it's by your mouth again." Naruto blushed getting Miku to smirk. She then blinked before smiling "Oh! You did change it. I can't believe you're going to-"

"Ah ah, no more future telling. Let me just live it Miku," said Naruto focusing back on Pain. "Wouldn't want to spoil it for myself."

"Today, you will meet your end Kyubi."

"Right, let's get to it."

Rinnegan versus Rinnegan, the fight was on.

* * *

 _Omake: A Moment Alone (Miku)_

 _(In Suna's Desert - Naruto v Miku)_

"How do you fight someone that can see the future?" questioned Miku getting punched by Naruto. That Miku vanished as the world distorted and returned a few seconds. Miku dodged Naruto's punch this time before retaliating with a sharp kick. "I'll always come out better."

"It does seem like quite the tall task," said Naruto dodging the kick. Naruto then grabbed Miku's foot before tossing her high into the sky. The world distorted again and returned Naruto and Miku back to before he grabbed her. "I must say though, your power makes for an interesting battle."

"Thank you," spoke Miku stopping Naruto from grabbing her leg by rolling forward. Miku stood but was thrown back by an unseen force to Naruto. "Your powers do too. You have an answer for everything."

"Dometsu (Guiding Destruction)," said Naruto reeling in Miku with his gravity powers. Naruto nabbed the girl before the world distorted again. They returned to the punch sequence as Miku instead dodged fully out of the way. Naruto blinked realizing it before looking at the girl. "Hmm, is there a limit on your time-warping?"

"If there is, I haven't found it yet." Miku rushed back in to start anew with Naruto. No matter which _future_ she went with, Naruto inevitably ended up winning. It was getting frustrating for the pretty girl. "Ugh, this is almost like Momoshiki-sama. Only he actually tries to harm me when he fights."

"Momoshiki? Hagoromo's mother spoke of him. She was terribly frightened."

"Oh, Momoshiki-sama isn't that scary. I mean he is but compared to you, he's not. You're the scary one Naruto-kun," said Miku getting Naruto to raise an eyebrow. Miku just smiled as Naruto still seemed to not get it. "I can see more than just the immediate future Naruto-kun. I can go really far though since it's likely to change, I don't do it often. But right now, adult you is frightening. You in a couple of hours will be too."

"A couple of hours?"

"Ah, ah...I'm not telling you. Wouldn't want to spoil it for you," said Miku before gasping.

Naruto appeared before her in a teleportation she didn't know he would do. Rather than reversing time so she could move, Miku's eyes widened as she looked at Naruto. She threw her arms around his neck again and held his gaze.

"Oh, you _clever_ boy. You knew I couldn't resist. And now you've got me."

"Heh, you're so weird. I like it." Naruto grinned at Miku as she grinned back.

The plan had been to grab her again with another Dometsu at closer range, fake wanting another kiss, Miku would take the bait, and then bam, he'd trap her in a genjutsu. Obviously, Miku could see the future and would know this. For some reason, she was allowing it to happen.

"Why allow yourself to be caught?"

"What do you mean? I'm not caught, I'm actually holding you."

"I know you saw the future, you know what I plan to do. You even sort of said it," explained Naruto getting Miku to shake her head.

"Well I had to, it was a future I saw where you actually don't do it."

"Heh, of course it is," said Naruto before noticing their position. The last time they were like this, Miku planted one on him. "I suppose this is the future where we instead actually kiss again?"

"Hmm, nope, we don't kiss again for a while. A long while," said Miku getting Naruto to blink. "Weird right? The first kiss was nice but, if I do it again, you'll eventually end up hating me. Because I know you know I stole your chakra the last time we did." continued Miku getting Naruto to nod knowingly. Miku's eyes shifted red showing Naruto the Kyubi chakra she pilfered from him. "I can't kiss you again until you do it. And I can't wait for that. That one gets really steamy."

"How do I know you're not lying?"

"You don't, and that's what you like."

"What if you're just trying to steal more of Kurama's chakra?"

"You can stop it with the Preta Path like you did last time. I didn't take much."

"Control over time and the ability to steal chakra through physical contact. Your powers are interesting, I won't lie." Miku smiled at Naruto wider hearing his compliment. Which was a big one considering all he could do. Naruto couldn't help but return her infectious smile. "Things really get steamy between us in the future?"

"Yes, and not just with me either you player you," said Miku getting another cute head tilt. She wasn't going to explain it though because Naruto didn't want to know. "I'm happy this is a future where you end up liking me. At least it is so far. It could always change."

"It could. But so far, color me intrigued Miku-chan." The loving look in Miku's eyes made Naruto feel some way.

"I like when you add chan to my name. You say it so nice." Naruto couldn't wrap his head around this girl.

Naruto didn't know what Miku had already seen of their interactions together. And he didn't want to. It would make it more fun trying to figure out how she fit in his life. The look she was giving him was so wanting though. What could possibly happen to have her so enthralled with him?

"I can't wait for you to see the future Naruto-kun. You're going to love it I'm sure."

"We'll just see about that. Until then, show me some more of your moves."

"You got it stud."

The spar continued between Miku and Naruto. Naruto was already beginning to see how Miku could fit in his life.

* * *

 **And scene. Sorry for the wait. I'm back again. With a fight in the desert between Rinnegan users coming up next! Not to mention an OC character?! Oh my! What am I doing? Where am I going with this? Find out next chap, on Return! Of! The Samsara! *Cue epic music and confetti cannons***

 **-Hamp**

 **Side Note: If you're around on Earth Day, I'll have another OP Naruto story dropping. Idk the title yet but, I wrote a couple of chapters for it and I like how it looks. So, if you like this OP Naruto or just OP Narutos in general, you'll like my next story. See you all then.**


	10. Okay, You're Frightening

**Yo! Chapter Ten. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. As a father now, getting to experience the magical moment raising a baby is, I can confirm mommas really be better than daddies. Considering my mom and dad and me and my lady as reference points for my theory. My future ex-wife is so fucking amazing it's incredible. And yes, I'm jealous I'm a potato. My offspring likes me more at least. Not fair, I know, but like, I'm awesome. Outside of parenting efficiency that is. But I'll get there, believe in me. Even if I can't, my genetic, partial copy will grow up and make that part unnecessary anyway.

Shoutout to mothers this Mother's Day. What would we do without you wonderful women? Not that I think any of you are reading this, you got kids to raise and are probably being worshipped currently. But pets count as children in my book. So, to any of you, please, accept my shoutout as well. On to the chap.

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Okay, You're Frightening**

The Rinnegan was incredible. Miku sat in amazement watching Naruto battle it out against the Six Paths of Pain. The two's battle was poetry in motion. Jutsu after jutsu being met with counter after counter. It was fascinating to watch.

"Katon: Karyudan (Fire Style: Flame Dragon Bullet)," said Naruto launching out a blast of red-hot fire from his mouth. It did nothing as the chubby Path stepped in front and absorbed it. _"Okay, let's run through this again. That's the Preta Path."_

"Kuchiyose." There was the Animal Path, a slender and long-haired man, summoning a giant rhinoceros.

"Iso (Majestic Attire)," said Naruto as an ethereal white chakra spawned around him. A giant fist grew from the chakra and knocked out the charging Rhino before a sword grew in its hand. The hand gave a quick slash as the bald Pain managed to grab the sword and keep it from doing any harm. _"There's the Asura Path, the most dangerous. At least to me, that is."_ thought Naruto before the white chakra dissipated and vanished. Naruto put up a palm before bringing all six of the paths in collectively. "Dometsu (Guiding Destruction)."

"Bansho Ten'in (Heavenly Pull)." Naruto was pulled equally as strong by one of the paths simultaneously as his own pull.

That caused him to miss his timing on attacking as he flew by all of the paths while they flew past him. Naruto remembered who the Deva Path was as it was the original Pain he met. The second long-haired man was the Human Path. Naruto was reminded easily as it was the first to recover and came rushing in in attempts to touch him.

 _"Okay and the fat spiky-haired one is Naraka. Right, internalized. Should be simple to finish."_ thought Naruto ducking several strikes from the Human Path. Another Bansho Ten'in nearly grabbed Naruto but he deflected it with his own control over gravity. It did pause him long enough for the Human Path though. "Alright, this is really annoying."

"And I win," said the Deva Path as the Human Path put a palm to Naruto's forehead. The Deva Path's eyes widened when the Path didn't rip Naruto's soul from his body. _"What happened?"_

"Hmm, looks like I am stronger than you. That's good news. Not like you could pull my soul out anyway," said Naruto having ejected a black rod from his sleeve. The rod was stabbed into the Human Path giving Naruto control over it. The Path turned toward its brethren by Naruto's command getting him to smirk. "At least at this range, my chakra receiver is better than all of yours. Thanks for the set of eyes."

Pain frowned internally having lost connection with one of his Paths. Naruto had really taken it from him. And it gave him a second pair of eyes to view the battlefield with practically eliminating any blind spots. Pain wouldn't be able to activate another jutsu without Naruto seeing it first.

 _"This boy is dangerous. It may have been a mistake to come here."_ thought Pain dodging Naruto's buzzsaw-like offensive. A literal buzzsaw as he'd utilized the Asura Path to turn his body into a deadly quartet of saws. _"But, he'll be even more dangerous with time. I have to defeat him now."_

"Bansho Ten'in" Another attempt to reel Naruto in was deflected once more. More smoothly as he barely even stopped this time. Pain was getting frustrated as the Animal Path stepped up. "Kuchiyose"

"Rhino and now a two-headed dog. Nice summons," said Naruto repelling the charging summon with a gravity blast. All that did was cause it to grow a third head and come charging again. Naruto reverted back to normal as he nodded his head. "Hmm, I really like this one. Gedo: Yomi (Outer Path: World of Darkness)."

The charging dog was unprepared for the King of Hell to spring from the ground in front of it. The King of Hell's mouth was opened greatly as it swallowed the summon whole. The King of Hell then sunk into the ground as Pain's Deva Path held up a palm.

"Shinra Tensei." Naruto readied to deflect but found out Pain missed him entirely.

It was then Naruto realized Pain wasn't aiming for him. Pain tagged the Human Path getting it to tumble across the ground. Naruto's chakra receiver rod fell out because of the blow making him lose control of the Path.

Naruto frowned before letting out a sigh. He was growing bored with this. He'd already seen from Miku how he could win. Ruined the book if you read the ending first. That applied here for Naruto. And then, he figured out a much easier idea.

"Aw, that's cheating Naruto-kun." Naruto blinked before looking at Miku.

"It's six bodies on one. I'm allowed to respond accord-wait, stop doing that," said Naruto as Miku smiled at him. She'd seen what he planned to do already. Naruto shook his head before channeling his chakra. "Chikushodo."

"I really hate that Fishcake." Tayuya appeared in a poof of smoke beside the Kyubi Jinchuriki.

"I know, can I get your help?" questioned Naruto grabbing the girl and placing her on his back.

Tayuya perked up hearing him say he wanted her help. She then blushed at how he held her. Naruto had his hands under her thighs, awfully close to her butt. A little further and he would've been grabbing a handful of her rear end. She'd have come to the wrong conclusions if not for him continuing to talk.

"Well, I can win without you but, it'll be much easier with you. Got your flute?" Tayuya reached into her shirt and easily pulled out her instrument.

"Duh."

Ah, she wouldn't be able to keep herself upright or defend against pain while she was casting her Genjutsu. That's why he was holding her like that. Good, if he was trying to cop a feel, Tayuya would have beat him to death.

"Nice, play something immobilizing." Naruto and Tayuya then vanished from view.

The Paths of Pain all lost sight of him and the girl as they looked around. Even the returned Human Path as it settled back next to its brethren to give a complete view. Yet and still, Naruto and the girl were completely gone. Even their chakra signatures were hidden from the Paths.

"Hmm, I do like this version better. And now I see why he keeps her close." Miku's gaze was up as she could see a tiny speck.

The speck was getting larger and there was a melody growing louder the closer it got. Pain felt and heard Naruto above him and turned to see him plummeting toward all six of them. The tune was getting louder and louder as the Deva Path rose a palm. The gravity wave would be deflected but, that would make Naruto an easy target frozen in the air. The Asura Path got ready as the Deva Path channeled its chakra.

"Shin-" The path stopped seeing them vanish again.

An Ashura Senku put Naruto and Tayuya in the midst of the Six Paths. Tayuya was steadily playing her flute as her Genjutsu took effect. Sadly, the Genjutsu wasn't strong enough to stop the Paths who all turned to attack.

"Tenchi Kyomei (Heaven and Earth Resonance)."

Tayuya's eyes snapped open feeling her chakra connect with Naruto's. She almost stopped playing her flute because of the jolt it caused in her body. His chakra felt maddeningly good flowing through her body. And with his chakra fueling her Genjutsu, it ensnared the Paths under its paralyzing influence.

"Fishcake, have I told you you're scary?" asked Tayuya after completing her melody and looking at the frozen paths of Pain. Her Mugen Onsa (Phantom Sound Chains) wasn't doing anything until Naruto assisted her. "Because if not, you're scary. Why was there so much? Could you always do that? What is it even called?"

"Because I'm awesome. Yes, since I awoke my Rinnegan at least. And I said what it was when I did it." Naruto moved to fully immobilize the helpless paths as Tayuya growled angrily.

"Well, I didn't hear it because I was playing my flute! What was it?!"

"What does it matter?"

"Tell me or-" started Tayuya holding her flute threateningly. Naruto removed all the essential chakra receivers from a second pain before turning to Tayuya since she stopped speaking. Tayuya slowly brought down her flute before breathing out calmly. "Please tell me."

"Heh, you've been cussing a lot less lately and being nice. Ever since yesterday," said Naruto turning an eye to Tayuya. The girl's face was twitching in agitation as Naruto smiled. "Don't tell me Miku-chan scared you that much that you're-Oi, that thing hurts if you hit me!" Tayuya had taken a swipe at Naruto for what he was about to say. She missed as Naruto grinned seeing her smirk. He could tell the girl, she did say please after all. "Tenchi Kyomei. I can augment someone's techniques with Rikudo chakra by connecting mine to theirs."

"Wow! So that's how your chakra feels?" questioned Tayuya as Naruto nodded and moved on to a third path. _"So ridiculously strong. Do you even know how glad I am to be on your side? You'd scare the shit out of me if I wasn't."_

The musician held her flute in one hand as she encircled her arms around Naruto's neck. He was no longer supporting her so it was necessary to stay attached to his back without killing her core to stay upright. At least that's what she told herself instead of the happy feelings she was having being this close to someone like Naruto.

His chakra had felt damn good. Naruto, oblivious to Tayuya's thoughts, moved on to the fourth Pain and continued to remove Pain's chakra receivers. He knew the man's location and couldn't feel him trying to retreat. Not like he could get away anyway from what Naruto had seen when they spoke last. He could take his time.

Tayuya lazily looked over to the side and noticed Miku finally. Tilting her head, Tayuya remembered the girl's chakra signature. This was the same person she met yesterday. The musician grinned with an idea before tugging Naruto's cheek to get his attention.

"Hey Fishcake, connect our chakras again. Just for a second." Miku blinked before getting on guard.

"No, you're not attacking Miku-chan." Tayuya frowned since Naruto knew what she wanted to do. Miku apparently did too as she let out a breath in relief. "Plus, she's sorry for doing it. Right, Miku-chan?"

"Yes, I'm sorry Tayuya-tan," said Miku standing behind the two of them now. Tayuya jumped in fright not knowing she could move that fast. "Ah, I'm sorry again."

"Stop apologizing to me...actually, stop talking altogether. I haven't forgotten yesterday," said Tayuya getting a sweet and apologetic smile from Miku. A completely different feel from the murderous Miku yesterday. Tayuya was confused and full of questions especially seeing Miku up close and without her disguise. _"What the hell...was she this hot yesterday? Why is she smiling at me like that? And why is it making me want to smile-"_

"It's infectious right?" questioned Naruto getting Tayuya to blink. Naruto removed the final rods out of the last Path before standing up. He had his own smile turning and seeing Miku's beautiful one. "It's weird but, you've seen weirder Tayuya-chan. Now, who wants to go confront a bad guy?" Miku rose her hand happily while Tayuya slammed her face on Naruto's shoulder and groaned into it. "1 in favor, 1 against. As the tiebreaker, I say we go. Thus, we shall. _All_ of us."

"Yayy!" shouted Miku grabbing Naruto's extended hand in prep to teleport.

"Boo! I don't care about bad guys anymore. You make it boring now," opposed Tayuya blowing a raspberry.

"Aw, you've known that about me from the start yet you've stuck around with your favorite _maelstrom_."

"You're not my favorite anything, _Fishcake_. And what else was I supposed to do, you're you?"

"Heh, I am me indeed." Tayuya blew continuous raspberries at his arrogance.

A random giggle sounded out after her third one that paused Tayuya. The girl was confused hearing Miku laughing in a weird way. Tayuya rose her head seeing Miku blushing while hiding her mouth beneath her hand to muffle the noise.

"What's so funny...Miku, was it?"

"Yes, Otsutsuki Miku, and I'm happy to introduce myself now. Sorry about yesterday again," said Miku with a smile at Tayuya. Tayuya could feel herself wanting to smile again seeing Miku's own pearly whites. She choked it down as Miku pointed to Naruto with her free hand. "And what's so funny is Naruto-kun. The way you were, your blown raspberries were hitting his neck. Naruto-kun got _excited_!"

"What, no way?!" questioned Tayuya looking down Naruto's front over his shoulder.

"What? What do you mean _excited_?" questioned Naruto ignorant as Tayuya could see that he wasn't _excited_ , at least in the way she anticipated.

Tayuya was wondering why Miku said that. She would have come to another wrong conclusion that Miku knew she was curious about Naruto. Their little bed interaction gave Tayuya a visual, but not a _visual_ like the one she expected to see just now. Angry at being had, Tayuya was stopped from saying anything when Miku tapped her.

Images flashed through Tayuya's head from the contact. Miku was holding Naruto's hand still so he saw the same images. She knew Naruto was against seeing the future, but she didn't want him to be lost with Tayuya seeing it. Miku returned them both back to the present getting Naruto and Tayuya to blink.

"Oh, that's what you meant by _excited_. Hmm, well, that's embarrassing."

"What the hell was that?" questioned Tayuya seeing Naruto get _excited_. But, right now he wasn't _excited_. "Was that a Genjutsu? It felt so real."

"Because it was real, sort of. It was the previous future. I can predict the future with my control over time. It would have happened if you didn't hear me giggle," Miku smiled at Tayuya's growing understanding. She picked it up as fast as Naruto did."You would have kept blowing raspberries and tada, _excited_ Naruto-kun here."

"So wait...because of me, Fishcake would have..." Miku nodded getting Tayuya to smirk. She turned a shit-eating grin to a blushing Naruto. "My my Fishcake- _kun_. That's the second time, isn't it? And here I was thinking wrong all along. You're a grower, not a shower."

"...I don't like you." Naruto lost his blush and replaced it with a frown. Naruto's sentence doubled down to both Tayuya and Miku. Well, not so much Miku even though she was the reason this started, sort of. _"Ah, you can't be mad at her. She's too pretty."_

"I wonder if I do it now would you still get _excited?_ Hold on, let me see."

"Confront bad guy time!" Naruto cut off Tayuya's actions as the three of them vanished.

It was time to confront the bad guy. Not tease Naruto time.

(Sunagakure)

"Ah, you're still here. Hello Fu!" shouted Jiraiya popping a squat next to a seated Fu. The girl waved in greeting with a smile before turning back forward. Jiraiya turned to see what she was looking at. "Still getting his butt kicked?"

"Yep, he's gotten better though."

"Good, does that mean he won any against you?"

"Nope, not one. Then Gaara-san showed up so, Sasuke-san challenged him instead. Lost badly the first time and keeps asking for rematches since they're all so short," said Fu watching Sasuke try to take on the Ichibi Jinchuriki for the eighth time. He was getting better but, the outcome had become inevitable. "I heard he was beating Gaara-san in their first meeting. I wonder if Shukaku-kun makes his jinchuriki progress faster than normal? I'll ask later."

"Shukaku?"

"The Ichibi. Naruto-sama told us the origin story last night."

"Oh right, that boring ass story. I think only you listened to it Fu."

"But we were all there."

"Physically at least. Also, back to what you said, Sasuke was doing alright in their fight but after Gaara's transformation, Naruto said the jinchuriki would have killed Sasuke," said Jiraiya watching Sasuke get snatched up by Gaara's sand. He'd lost again considering Gaara could crush him with a squeeze of his hand. "What's worse, the terrain is different than their last fight."

Gaara versus Sasuke V1 occurred in Konoha, within its stadium, which was relatively neutral ground. V2 was in Sunagakure, a desert full of sand which Gaara could manipulate at will. V2 was heavy in the Jinchuriki's favor considering the battlefield. And he had a Bijuu to keep him going, unlike Sasuke who was tired again.

"Damn it, why am I so weak?" questioned Sasuke getting released from Gaara's sand coffin. The boy stood exhaustedly before turning to Fu. "Hey Fu, can you call Naruto again?"

"Sure, one second," said Fu with a smile. A moment later, Naruto appeared next to the girl getting Jiraiya to blink. "Hi Clone-kun, Sasuke-san needs another top up."

"Ah, on it. Thanks Fu." The clone Naruto jumped over to Sasuke. A light tap revitalized Sasuke as he grinned at the instant second wind. Sasuke nodded to the clone as it nodded back. "Good luck. You're stupid for fighting him by the way."

"Agreed, even I wouldn't fight Gaara in the sand." Jiraiya chimed in casually from the side.

"See, and Ero-Sennin's way stronger than you. But, hey, do you until you get more chakra. Then you're **_mine_** ," said clone Naruto ominously getting Sasuke to blink. An evil laugh followed as the clone prepped to leave. The clone still wanted the Suna people to exalt it as Naruto since he was allowing it. "Keep kicking his ass Gaara."

"I believe that's all I can do given the circumstances." The clone nodded before hearing a shout that made it smile.

"Bye Clone-kun! Tell Naruto-sama I said hi!" shouted Fu getting the clone to smile.

"He said "hi Fu!" back," spoke the clone seeing Fu smile before it vanished.

Throughout the entire exchange, Jiraiya was stuck on one part of it. He disregarded Sasuke starting another spar with Gaara to look at Fu.

"How did you call the gaki? That was like a split second and then he was here."

"Bijuu telepathy."

"...what?"

"Bijuu telepathy," repeated Fu easily getting Jiraiya to raise an eyebrow. Seeing his confusion, Fu explained. "Naruto-sama once showed me a plane only accessible by the Bijuu. I've wanted to go back for a while because it was peaceful. And it's easier to communicate with Naruto-sama there because I can always reach him." Fu then turned to show Jiraiya her exposed midriff. Jiraiya easily spotted the magatama piercing on her bellybutton, made of the same material as Tayuya's earrings. Unlike Tayuya's, Fu's seemed to shine a dark green when the light hit it just right. "So, Naruto-sama gave me this. I can access the plane with it by Naruto-sama's Preta Path. I can remotely steal his chakra, not enough to use but, enough to enter the Bijuu plane by myself."

"Heh, the kid made that? When?"

"Yes and while he told us the origin story. You were there, how did you miss it?" questioned Fu as Jiraiya shrugged. Fu shook her head before looking down at the piercing. "I like it. I didn't want a bracelet or earrings so I chose this. I wasn't sure but, it's cute right?"

"I'm no fan of piercings but, yes, it looks cute. Nice of the kid to do that," said Jiraiya before turning back to Sasuke and Gaara's spar. It was already over since Gaara trapped him in sand, again. "Alright, well, this was equally as boring when you were doing it. So, I'm off to do Jiraiya things again. We leave at 9 tomorrow morning."

"Gotcha Jiraiya-sama, see you then."

"Indeed." Jiraiya disappeared as Fu heard Sasuke speak.

"Alright, I'm beating you this time Gaara. Come on." Fu felt Jiraiya was right having watched the boy lose nine times already.

"I think I'll go talk with the Bijuu instead." The magatama on her bellybutton glowed a mint green.

Fu was transported to the Bijuu plane as she could see all nine Bijuu again. She smiled happily before getting their attention. This would be much more fun than watching Sasuke repeatedly lose.

* * *

 _(Somewhere outside Sunagakure)_

"...that boy, defeated the Six Paths..."

Only silence followed the line. The emaciated Rinnegan wielder couldn't believe it was that easy for him. Sound-based Genjutsu was one of the Pains' worst and only counters.

"I shouldn't have sent all six at once. But my respect for the boy was too high." Fear could easily replace respect in the man's mind now.

"Nagato, the Six Paths really are..." a blue-haired woman stood to the side of the machine-held Nagato watching him nod. "How...how could he...we have to leave."

"We won't make it, Konan. He knows my location already from his removal of my chakra receivers," said Nagato waiting a few minutes. They could have run but, he knew Naruto would catch them. He wouldn't have taken his time like he was if he didn't think so. "He's here."

Naruto arrived with Miku and Tayuya in an instant. Fingers intertwined and still riding his back respectively, the two girls got a good look at their enemy. And what they saw was clearly not what they expected. Tayuya was the first to voice her opinion.

"Ewww, is he middle-aged or overaged? His face is like forty but his body looks one hundred and thirty-four years old. How is that possible?"

"He synched with something he shouldn't have. It drained his life energy because those eyes aren't organically his," said Naruto looking at the seventh path of Pain, the original body. "Something I'll be taking back before ending his life."

"Wait, please don't..." Naruto almost disregarded the Akatsuki woman entirely.

"I warned him of what I'd do if he went after another Bijuu. Why shouldn't I kill him now?" The tomoe of Naruto's Rinnegan spun dangerously before Miku gasped.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. Last time I promise, but you need to see this," said Miku squeezing Naruto's hand. Naruto was subject to another flash of images. A future Miku saw as Naruto blinked coming out of it. "No more future, I know, I know. But, I didn't want you to-"

"It's fine Miku-chan, I understand. But, no more, okay?" Miku nodded rapidly with an apologetic look. Naruto then looked back at Nagato and Konan. "I'm sorry for what happened to your friend. Yahiko seemed like a cool dude."

"What? How do you know about Yahiko?!" questioned Nagato before Naruto ensnared him and his partner in a genjutsu. Naruto merely showed Nagato and Konan the future Miku showed him. The future where Nagato rattled off a moving story of his upbringing and how he got to be this person. "Wow, she saw such a thing and relayed it to you before it happened?"

"Yeah, Miku-chan's awesome like that," said Naruto before giving a smile. "And I'm sure you want to know my answer, right?"

Nagato blinked remembering the question he'd asked Naruto after his story. Naruto had berated his way of bringing about world peace in Miku's future. So, Nagato wanted to know his way, in their future. It was weird to think about but, it sounded right in Nagato's head.

"Yes, do you have a better way?"

"Of course, for I am a student of Jiraiya-sensei like you, Nagato-senpai, and Konan-senpai. All pupils of the man with the coolest dream of world peace ever," said Naruto before adding some of Hiruzen's memories to the mix. The man had read Jiraiya's first book which had a footnote about the person Naruto was staring at. "I'm named after the main character in a book you inspired. You remember, don't you?"

Nagato's eyes widened. He did remember. _The_ _Tales_ _of_ _The_ _Gutsy_ _Ninja_ , a story where the main character never gave up trying to attain Jiraiya's idealistic world peace dream. Nagato looked down to see Naruto standing before him now with a palm to his chest.

"I will have the ability in a few years, you know I will. All I ask is you give me time. My actions will speak for themselves," said Naruto as Nagato exhaled a sharp breath. His body restored to normal as he looked healthy and fit once again. "Consider this a step in breaking the cycle. Oh, and I'm sorry but, I need this." Nagato grunted in pain as Naruto disrupted his connection with the Gedo Mazo. Naruto nodded before building his chakra and taking a step back. "Kuchiyose: Gedo Mazo."

Beside Naruto, the ground opened up to reveal a huge head. The head was attached to a humanoid being that was absolutely massive. Its face came roaring angrily out of the ground before being sucked into Naruto. An entire body came flying out and into Naruto who bristled at the sealing.

Naruto's blonde hair whitened for a few seconds before restoring back to normal as he grinned. Tayuya, still piggybacking Naruto, couldn't believe what she was feeling from Naruto as her earrings glowed pink and very bright. They were vibrating as she gawked at Naruto's chakra skyrocketing. It was many times stronger than what she felt earlier.

"Hot damn, that's a lot of energy." Naruto shook from a full-body shiver before turning to Miku. The girl was smiling knowingly as Naruto grinned back and continued speaking. "So this is what you meant, isn't it. The me in a couple of hours was scary. You were still right even though the future could have changed."

"I'm glad, your chakra is so massive I can almost not distinguish it from the planet's," said Miku giddily enraptured by the boy's chakra. Naruto himself already had massive reserves. But with the Gedo Mazo and the Kyubi within him, it was almost the unimaginable realm of chakra possession. Miku then saw the future and realized Naruto would be sans the Kyubi really soon. "It's too bad you won't stay like that."

"Hmm, it is. But I've got something in mind, don't you worry," said Naruto with a smirk.

"Fishcake."

"Yes, Tayuya-chan?" Naruto turned his head to see Tayuya holding his gaze.

"You're frightening."

 _"Heh, she can feel it. Her earrings are glowing in response to the Gedo Mazo."_ thought Naruto seeing the shimmering pink earrings within Tayuya's hair. Naruto nodded to himself before holding a hand to his gut. "Thanks for the compliment. Now, time to make good on my word." Naruto blinked before being dragged into his mindscape. There he saw a blonde-haired man and a red-haired woman waiting for him. "Hey tou-chan, hey ka-chan."

The two waved to him as Naruto smiled. Before they could speak, Naruto twisted his hand in the real world which opened his seal. His mom and dad's eyes widened as they turned to see the bars holding the Kyubi unlock before bursting open.

"One second mom and pops, be back soon," said Naruto before his dad stopped him by speaking.

"Uhh...we don't actually have a lot of time Naruto."

"I know, you're just leftover chakra that'll run out and disappear forever. No worries, I can sustain you both for a little while." His dad's eyes widened hearing that. Having seen Naruto's life up to this point, especially since his Rinnegan awakening, the man had no reason not to believe him. Naruto pointed to the arriving Kurama as he smiled. "Kind of made this guy a promise. Want to do it before I get all teary-eyed talking to my parents."

Naruto returned to the real world after speaking with his parents briefly. He saw everyone looking at him considering he'd stopped for a few seconds. Naruto nodded before his chakra amped up.

"Right then, Ashura Senku." Naruto teleported before grinning wide. _"Oh man, this feels like Hagoromo again."_

Tayuya was still attached to Naruto's back so she warped with him. Miku, Nagato, and Konan weren't touching Naruto but also warped with him in his teleportation. The two Akatsuki members had never been subject to one and could see a phantasm of their travel to the middle of Suna's desert.

"What? How?" questioned Konan wondering why it felt like they slowly arrived here when they already were there. She saw a machine-free Nagato standing beside her and wondering the same. "That felt instant. But I could see us traveling here..."

"You were already here. Your brain processes it slower to not overload your senses." Tayuya perked up seeing the other three also teleport.

"Fishcake, how did you teleport them? I thought you had to touch us to do so?" Miku smiled knowing the answer to Tayuya's question.

"Ooo, Naruto-kun is scarier than I thought. He can expand his chakra to encompass an area, and then teleport the people or things within."

"Got it in one Miku-chan. The Gedo Mazo, even hollow, contains more power and life energy than any of the Bijuu. And I can use it to amp anything I do," said Naruto before slamming a palm to the ground. An orange cloak of chakra surrounded Naruto before a summoning array appeared beneath his hand. The orange chakra seeped into it before the sealing array vanished. "Promise kept Kurama. Hope you like your new home."

"Stop, you're doing things and not explaining Fishcake. How powerful did you get to make my earrings lose their shit like that?" questioned Tayuya tugging Naruto's cheek. She was confused at his fast-paced actions. "Why were you glowing orange with those black marks? And what was that summoning array you threw it into?"

"Tayuya-chan, I'll explain later. Right now, I have things I must do before I forget. Just remind me and I'll tell you whatever you want to know." Tayuya begrudgingly accepted that. When Naruto had his mind convinced, one couldn't change it no matter what. Naruto smiled seeing her oblige him as he turned to Nagato and Konan. "How about a reunion?"

Another warp put the five of them in a new area of Suna. Nagato and Konan looked around to see the Ichibi Jinchuriki throttling the last loyal Uchiha of Konoha. The two then turned hearing a cheerful greeting.

"Hi Naruto-sama, Tayuya-chan, pretty alien girl, half-naked Rinnegan guy, and Akatsuki lady," said Fu with a smile and wave to them all. Naruto, Tayuya, and Miku smiled and waved back as Fu pointed to Nagato and Konan. "Why are you with Akatsuki Naruto-sama?"

"Oh, you know. There's no need to be afraid Fu." Tayuya climbed off Naruto's back as Fu shook her head with a smile.

"I'm not afraid. You're here." Fu would have been scared seeing Akatsuki if she was alone like the first time she met them. She wasn't this time and better yet, it was Naruto with whom she was with. Speaking of Naruto, Fu's eyes widened remembering what she felt a few seconds earlier. "Your chakra Naruto-sama! I felt it all just earlier, it made my magatama glow and shake uncontrollably. What happened?"

"Absorbed the husk of the ten-tails." A cute tilt of the head showed Fu's curiousness.

"Husk of the ten-tails?"

"I'll tell you later, for now, Gaara!" shouted Naruto getting the redhead to turn to him. "I can do that thing we spoke of last night now. You cool to handle it right away?" questioned Naruto getting the boy's eyes to widen. Gaara simply nodded as Naruto smiled. "Good, me, you, and Fu are about to handle that. Alright, reunion time...Dometsu (Guiding Destruction)."

A few seconds went by before Jiraiya came flying into view by an unseen force. Jiraiya had been making his way back to Suna before he was flung haphazardly through the air back to the training grounds located on the outskirts of the village.

The sage took in his surroundings after landing to find himself back with Fu, Gaara, and Sasuke. He saw Naruto and Tayuya there now with three other people. Miku got his attention for a moment but the other two got his eyes to widen. He couldn't believe who he was seeing.

"Nagato? Konan? Is that..."

"Yes, hello again Jiraiya-sensei."

"...you're both still alive? I heard you all died," said Jiraiya standing up to look at his past students.

"It's a long story, but we are. Me and Konan are the only ones left though. Yahiko is dead." Jiraiya's eyes widened again as Naruto got Gaara's attention.

"We're leaving." Naruto vanished with Fu and Gaara as Jiraiya looked at his students.

Miku, Tayuya, and Sasuke all got the message too. This was a private conversation about to be had. They need not be here any longer. So they all left leaving Jiraiya alone with Nagato and Konan.

"Tell me that story. Be sure to include the Akatsuki part."

This was to be a revealing storytime.

* * *

 _(With Naruto - Sometime Later)_

"And chakra is built. Alright, you ready Gaara?" questioned Naruto seated in a lotus position. Gaara gave a nod as Naruto opened his eyes. All nine tomoe spun as Naruto nodded. "Okay, this will hurt for a second."

Gaara blinked as Naruto now stood before him with a palm to his chest. The Suna nin's face twisted into one of pure shock as it felt like Naruto was tearing his body in half. It was kind of the truth. Naruto had ripped the Ichibi from Gaara's body when he removed his hand. Gaara's eyes closed as he fell backward and died on the spot.

Fu stood to the side watching as Naruto immediately summoned the King of Hell. Naruto's hair whitened again and every tomoe in his eyes vanished as the King of Hell spit a green chakra at Gaara's motionless body. The chakra absorbed into the redhead before the boy's eyes slowly reopened.

"Hmm, Hagoromo was right. I'd have died trying this in Konoha after the invasion," said the white-haired Naruto feeling incredibly weak. If the restoration of a single life took this much from him, what would the hundred plus in Konoha have done? "Well, how do you feel Gaara?"

"...I feel like you killed me."

"Naruto-sama did kill you," informed Fu getting Gaara's eyes to widen. "He revived you a second later but, you were dead. It happens to all Jinchuriki who lose their Bijuu."

"And then I revived you. So no harm done," said Naruto getting Gaara to turn to him. Naruto grabbed a lock of his white hair and saw it very slowly fading back to its normal blonde. "Took some of my vitality but, the Gedo Mazo will restore me soon."

"Shukaku...is really gone," said Gaara softly no longer feeling the Bijuu's presence within. Normally, Gaara could hear the Bijuu talking in his mind or thrashing about against his seal. Now, there was silence. "I can't believe he's really gone."

"Indeed. He's within me for now," said Naruto growing interesting juinjutsu markings across his body. A summoning array appeared below his feet as he put a hand to it. "And now he's not. Hope you enjoy your new home Shukaku." Naruto lost the juinjutsu markings before smiling. He then turned to Gaara. "Remember, you're Shukaku's link. Per the agreement, he'll continue to protect Suna in exchange for his freedom. All you have to do is summon him. He'll listen to you and you alone, understood?"

Gaara nodded his head before standing back up. That would help when he told the council of his no longer housing the Ichibi. Sure, he wasn't a jinchuriki but, Shukaku could be called at a whim.

They'd be fine with the idea. A full-powered Bijuu beat an unstable jinchuriki any day. Gaara was getting used to the idea that Shukaku wasn't with him anymore. His entire life had been with the sand tanuki terrorizing him. With that no longer there, Gaara couldn't explain the joy he was feeling. It almost got his face to twitch into a smile.

"You okay Gaara-san?" questioned Fu getting Gaara to look at her.

"Yes, sorry, just hard to process when it has actually happened," said Gaara before he turned to Naruto. "I only learned of this yesterday and expected a much longer wait. I figured I could find a way to repay by then. Sadly, you moved faster than I expected. Please accept my verbal gratitude for the time being. Thank you"

"Not a problem. And thank you. Shukaku-kun thanks you as well," said Naruto whose hair was nearly back to normal. "So, I'm going to hang here with Fu and do her next. You can stay if you want, hang out."

"No thank you, I believe I will sleep." And with that, Gaara bid the two of them adieu. "I hope you both enjoy your last night in Suna and the rest of your journey goes well."

"Bye Gaara-san! Sleep well!" chirped Fu as Gaara nodded to her.

"Heh, catch you later Gaara. Contact me if you ever need anything." Gaara nodded to Naruto before vanishing in a suna shunshin. Naruto smiled heavy before smirking. "He's probably going to sleep for a few days straight. Shukaku-kun kept him restless since they'd been together."

"I know, Shukaku-kun told me yesterday."

"Oh yeah, forgot you could talk with them too," said the whitish-blonde as he nodded. "Alright, your turn Fu. Let me build this chakra."

"Okay Naruto-sama," said Fu taking a seat across from Naruto. He'd returned to his lotus position as went about collecting nature energy. "Can you tell me more about Hagoromo's life in the meantime?"

"Sure, what do you want to hear?"

"Hmm, about his family. Did he have any?"

"Did he? Yes, his wife was smoking hot," said Naruto with a smile remembering the woman. "He had two sons too. One was awesome, the other was too but, kind of misguided. Ashura and Indra were their names. Let me tell you the one of how Hagoromo chose his successor."

Fu grinned in excitement as Naruto relayed her the events of the past. It would take a few hours for him to return to full power. And he chose the perfect story to make those hours breeze by.

He'd do the same to her as he did to Gaara once he was finished.

 _(The Next Day - Somewhere in the Land of Wind)_

"This seems like a good spot to stop for the night," said Jiraiya finding a decent area for camping out.

"Dumbass." Jiraiya frowned as Tayuya shook her head. "We're in a desert, everything's been sand since we started."

"Whatever pinky, you know what I meant," Tayuya growled at the nickname as Jiraiya ignored her. "Just set up your tent and go to bed."

Tayuya mumbled under her breath as she did just that. Naruto, Fu, and Sasuke all moved to do the same thing. Sasuke turned to the newest addition in their group and offered assistance.

"You need help with yours Miku?"

"Ah, thank you, but no thank you. I believe I can figure it out." Sasuke nodded as Tayuya and Jiraiya perked up.

"Wait, you...you, want to help someone?" questioned Tayuya as Sasuke turned to her.

"Isn't she from the moon? I wasn't sure they had tents there."

"I'm not from the moon," said Miku with a frown.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to offend." Jiraiya and Tayuya scrutinized Sasuke again when he spoke an apology of all things.

"Okay, where is the brooding emo? You're acting kind of weird kid," said Jiraiya looking at the dark-haired boy. Sasuke had been standoffish since they'd met. Now, he was offering assistance and speaking quite a lot. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing, I've been like this," said Sasuke as even Fu was scrunching up her face.

"Goodnight, see you all in the morning." Everyone blinked before turning to see Naruto closing his constructed tent.

"Hmm, kid must be tired. Let's follow suit!" shouted Jiraiya getting everybody back busy. "Got a long walk to the land of Earth."

Eventually, tents were up as the group settled in for the night. Once a few hours passed, Tayuya's earrings glowed pink. A poof of smoke occurred behind the girl as she heard a sleepy voice.

"Hmm, I can see why you hate that."

"Mhmm, glad you can." Tayuya turned over hearing Naruto speak. His eyes were closed, not that she could see in the darkness, as he breathed in and out slowly. Tayuya was staring at where she figured his face to be as she greeted him. "Hi Fishcake."

"Mmm, hi Tayuya-chan," hummed Naruto keeping his eyes closed. "What's up?"

"I can't sleep..."

"So you decided to wake me up to keep you company?"

"Sort of. It's just, you're the reason I can't sleep," admitted Tayuya seeing his Rinnegan open slowly and glow in the darkness. He held her gaze perfectly as she continued. "You've been acting like a pussy since yesterday. It irks me." Naruto sucked his teeth before closing his eyes again. Tayuya smiled before inching closer to the Rinnegan user. The exhales from his nostrils were lightly tapping her face now as she kept talking. "So, I figured I'd ask what's up. You want to talk about it?"

"Last time I tried, you told me you didn't care. This isn't a rhetorical question too is it?"

"Well, I care this time so no," said Tayuya lowly getting Naruto's eyes to open again. She marveled at his Rinnegan as he stared intently at her once again. "Like I said, you're a buzzkill like this. So, I want to help. Tell me what's going on."

"All of this is becoming too much to handle."

"What's all of this?"

"The burden of being endowed with great power. And the responsibilities handed to me because of it," said Naruto softly looking at Tayuya. Naruto let out a sigh and shook his head. "What if I fail?"

"You can't fail, you're you. You're too strong to fail."

"A lack of strength isn't why I think I'll fail. What if I fail because I have too much of it?" questioned Naruto getting a raised eyebrow from Tayuya. "Nagato had this vision. Bringing world peace by creating a superweapon with the Bijuu. He would create peace by having everyone live in fear." continued Naruto as his eyes glowed brighter. "The way I'm progressing, I'll be stronger than Hagoromo even without the nine Bijuu within me. I'll be in superweapon territories and my allegiance is to a sole village. People will fear Konoha simply because I fight for it."

"You're already in superweapon territories. I mean, people hail you as a God remember?"

"I'm reminded almost daily."

"And don't be stupid. You're as much Konoha as Konoha is you. Even if you left, you'd still protect it the same way."

"Indeed. I guess what I'm getting at is, what if my offering of peace and its acceptance are only because I scare people into it? I'd be no better than Nagato then, even if by accident."

"Fishcake..."

"Then there's this journey, stressing me out by being so popular. Not three months ago, I felt worthless and invisible to my own home. And now today, I'm the most popular person on the planet," said Naruto letting out his inner turmoil. The tomoe in his eyes were spinning to show the flux in his mindstate. "Spoke with my mom and dad for the first and last time, last night. Pops told me there's someone more dangerous than Nagato trying to dominate the world. Some guy who even scares the Fourth Hokage has got to be strong." Tayuya's eyes widened. Did Naruto just say he was the son of a Hokage? "Still gotta get Sasuke ready. I have six more Bijuu to free. I have to figure out how to create world peace for Nagato, who returned to Ame to properly lead his people. Also, from what Miku said in our conversation a day ago, foes stronger than Hagoromo's mom are coming to invade our planet in the not so distant future."

"...Fishcake."

"I can keep going if you want. Tell me when to stop. My brain is overloading."

"Stop," said Tayuya getting Naruto to quiet down. He could hear how loud he was breathing now. He was really getting worked up there. Tayuya put a hand to his cheek getting him to look at her. "You sound like a pussy, you know that don't you?"

"I feel like a pussy. I didn't ask for this..."

"No, but you have it, so stop bitching. You're you, right?" questioned Tayuya getting a small nod from Naruto. "Then that's all you need to know. You know who you are, I know who you are, and so does the world. Sure you have a lot on your plate but, I know you can handle it."

"How do you know?"

"Because you force me to believe in you. You force everyone to by just being you Fishcake," said Tayuya giving Naruto a small peck on the cheek not held in her hand. Naruto's eyes widened feeling the kiss as Tayuya smiled an earnest smile. "You're amazing. You're frighteningly strong. And you'll solve it all, I know you will. For I have _faith_."

"Heh, faith. Don't start calling me God."

"Trust me, I won't. It was just to lighten the mood grumpy."

"...thanks, Tayuya-chan."

"Don't mention it," said Tayuya turning over before backing into Naruto. Naruto blushed as Tayuya coddled into his body nicely. She threw one of his arms around her and held it close as she closed her eyes. "Now, air out all your feelings. Get them out now, so you can stop being a pussy before we get to the next village."

"You can't seriously want to hear all of this."

"I do, it might help me fall asleep listening to your boring ass." Naruto lips drooped into a frown.

"...I'm not boring."

"'Hagoromo split the Ten-tails into nine beasts' and blah blah blah, you're boring. Only Fu finds those interesting because she's curious about everything. But you being boring is good for me right now since I'm trying to find something to fall asleep to," said Tayuya with a smile hearing Naruto grumble under his breath. Tayuya then felt the need to address something immediately. "You better not get any ideas by the way. I'll throw you out of my tent if you try something perverted."

"Yeah yeah, you're the one who little spooned into me. I didn't summon you to my tent in the middle of the night." Tayuya's eyes snapped open as her cheeks heated up. She didn't like where Naruto was going with this. "You know, if I were a guessing man, I'd say you're the one with perverted thoughts. You looked mighty fast when you thought I had an erection earlier when-"

"Shut up Fishcake." Naruto laughed lightly in the girl's ear as she cut him off.

"But I thought you wanted me to air out my feelings? I can't do that shutting up."

"Not anymore, now shut up Fishcake." Tayuya closed her eyes as Naruto grinned.

"No, I think you want to hear them. Alright, well it started probably around the Suna invasion. That's when I knew life was about to be totally different," said Naruto beginning his soliloquy. "An invasion I played a vital role in...Tayuya-chan?" Naruto paused feeling Tayuya's breathing slow. He heard light snores come from the girl as he frowned. "Okay, that's not funny. I'm not that boring."

More snores came from the girl as Naruto couldn't believe it. So, he Rinnegan x-rayed Tayuya to see if this wasn't a prank. And nope, it wasn't. Tayuya was out like a light.

"That hurts the soul. Oh, it hurts..." Naruto felt the sharp pain in his chest before shaking his head.

Aw well, maybe next time. He closed his eyes to get ready for tomorrow. The Land of Earth was next and it housed plenty more villages than the Land of Wind.

Would be a much longer part of their journey because of that. Naruto couldn't wait.

* * *

 _Omake: A Moment Alone (Fu)_

 _(First Night in Suna)_

"That's why you called us in here Fishcake?" questioned Tayuya giving a yawn while standing in her pajamas and holding a pillow. Sasuke and Fu were there too in Naruto's hotel room having been called as well. Jiraiya sat off to the side in the background as Tayuya wondered why they had to be here for this. "That's lame. I thought you were going to talk about how you'd kill that dude who came and threatened me."

"What? No, you brought that on yourself. And what's wrong with telling you all a story about the history of shinobi?!" questioned Naruto as Tayuya yawned again. Naruto frowned at the girl before taking a seat in a chair. "Pfft, it's a good story. I don't need Fu talking about it and one of you asking me to repeat it. I'm only saying it once. Now gather around, find a seat."

Everybody quickly found a seat as they turned to Naruto. Everyone except for Tayuya as Naruto rose an eyebrow to her.

"Tayuya-chan?"

"There are no seats left. Everybody else is in one."

"There's a floor."

"I'm not sitting on a dusty ass floor Fishcake."

"There's a chair right there in Naruto's lap." Tayuya threw her pillow at Jiraiya and smacked him right in the face with it.

"Fucking perv, you're too old to say shit like that," said Tayuya as Jiraiya merely cackled at the girl's response.

"It's fine Tayuya-chan, have my seat." Tayuya smiled as Fu offered up her seat easily. The nanabi Jinchuriki smiled as Tayuya took her seat while Fu herself plopped down in Naruto's lap. She turned attentive orange eyes to the surprised Rinnegan wielder before nodded. "Go ahead and start Naruto-sama."

"You know Ero-Sennin was just-nevermind," said Naruto not even bothering. It wasn't that important. Now it was time to get to his story. "Right then, Hagoromo's life. It all began with his mother, Otsutsuki Kaguya. No offense, but lady was batshit crazy."

As Naruto regaled the tale of Hagoromo's origin, he lost one person during each significant portion of it. Sasuke was gone at the start, he slipped away easily right at the beginning. Tayuya had fallen asleep when Naruto got to the part of Kaguya eating the chakra fruit. Jiraiya lasted pretty long but, got bored and left a straw dummy of himself when Naruto got to the part of Kaguya trying to create some kind of gigantic tree.

The only one who'd stay intrigued the whole time was Fu. The girl was settled in Naruto's lap eating up the amazing story about the beginning of chakra usage. It was so fascinating to her. A voice in Naruto's head got him to pause for a moment though during his story.

 **"Hey Naruto, what happened to the rest of your little group?"** questioned Kurama in Naruto's head getting Naruto to perk up and look around.

 _"Oh, you're kidding me...they all suck."_ thought Naruto seeing only Fu remained awake and paying attention to his story. No matter, he wouldn't be repeating this story anyway. Fu nabbed his face and brought it over to look directly at her. "Ah, sorry about pausing the story. Kurama was talking to me."

"Kurama, that's the Kyubi right?" Naruto nodded as Fu smiled.

"I bet it's fun talking to Kurama. I've probably asked Chomei all the questions I could think of since I met her," said Fu as Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"Really? Do you want to speak to the other eight?" questioned Naruto as Fu's eyes widened. Naruto moved both of his hands in front of him as he channeled his chakra. A blue flame grew in one hand as a red one grew in the other. "I can allow you to talk with any of the Bijuu whenever you want if you'd like. Make you something just like Tayuya-chan."

"That'd be so cool! But, I don't really like earrings," said Fu getting Naruto to turn to her.

"Well then, what do you like? I can make it whatever you want. Just be sure it'll be something you'll never lose," said Naruto as Fu dug deep into her brain to think of something. Naruto rattled off ideas to help the wheels turn. "A necklace? Hair clip? A bracelet? A ring? A-"

"Bellybutton piercing."

"...what?"

"A bellybutton piercing," repeated Fu looking down at her exposed midriff. She imagined a piece of jewelry there and liked what she saw in her head. "It'll be something I never lose. Because it'll always be there."

"Hmm, alright then. Banbutsu Sozo (Creation Technique)," said Naruto bringing the two flames together. Naruto's hands closed together and extinguished the flames. He opened his hands a few seconds later as he smiled. A black magatama sat there that glinted dark green in the line. "Alright, want me to put it in?"

"Sure, will it hurt?" questioned Fu before gasping. It felt like Naruto pinched her as she looked down to see he'd already done it. Fu admired the pretty jewelry before smiling. "It looks better than what I thought it would."

"It also does something special too. Channel chakra through it," said Naruto as Fu did just that. Instantly, she was transported to a place she remembered. The same orange plane Naruto brought her to when they first met. "Welcome back to the Bijuu plane. Your piercing contains the preta path. You can't absorb techniques or anything but, you can steal my chakra." continued Naruto getting Fu to turn around toward him. Naruto was smiling at her as he nodded. "Not enough to use but, enough to thrust your consciousness here."

"Okay...but where are the Bijuu?" questioned Fu since that was the whole purpose of this.

"Here, they've always been here," said Naruto as Fu blinked.

All nine Bijuu surrounded the two of them in a circle as Fu's eyes widened. They all looked so majestic to her and she couldn't believe they were really here. She couldn't stop the smile at came to her face.

"Thank you Naruto-sama."

"Don't mention it, now the one-tailed one is Shukaku."

"Shukaku, got it," said Fu before turning to the massive sand tanuki. She gave a small wave to the Bijuu as it waved back. "Hi Shukaku, I'm Fu."

 **"Hello Fu, I'm Shukaku. Nice to meet you. Chomei's spoke of you before,"** said Shukaku with a giddy grin toward the girl. **"Something about how you want to know about our lives and what not."**

"Yes, I'd like to know yours too if that's okay."

 **"Meh, I got time. Pop a squat,"** said Shukaku as Fu turned to Naruto.

"Ah, don't worry. Time here passes differently than in the real world. Hours here are maybe seconds there. Take your time," said Naruto taking a seat.

"Great, alright, I'm ready Shukaku-kun," said Fu taking a seat next to Naruto.

Shukaku grinned before firing away. He could see why Chomei liked her Jinchuriki so much. The girl's earnest desire to get to know them was amazing.

She was very happy with her gift from Naruto. Fu would be abusing it at every opportunity. She'd have to find a way to repay Naruto for it someday.

That'd come later. For now, she had eight other Bijuu to get to know.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap. Miku joined the group. Nagato and Konan are done with the Akatsuki. The Land of Earth is next. Should be totes fun. Until then.**

 **-Hamp**

 **Side Note: Omakes do contain certain glossed over parts of the story. I will be rushing to Shippuden age so, if certain things are 'lacking detail', it's because they're things you probably already have read/seen. Like Nagato's story or Naruto's talk with his parents. So, be prepared for that in the next few chaps. I'll try to throw allusions in there but, if you have a question, pm me or leave a review. I'll do my best to respond to ones I see that are answerable. Cheers.**


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